Kevin Goldstein was the first one on the Neftali Feliz bandwagon, so it shouldn't be any big surprise that he was impressed with Feliz's performance in yesterday's Futures Game:
The biggest addition to the Rangers down the stretch might be Neftali Feliz. While walking one and striking out two in his scoreless inning, Feliz was pumping gas at 97-98 mph while touching triple digits on numerous occasions. The Rangers need help in the bullpen, and the good news is that they don't need to make a trade to alter the long-term plan. Feliz will not only help, he might be closing by September.
My gut feeling is that Feliz is up here before the end of the month, and while I don't expect him to be closing by September, I do think that if the Rangers are in the race in September, he's going to be in the role of late-inning power arm, a guy to pair with C.J. Wilson in the 8th inning of games.
And I think that's a good thing for Feliz's development, long-term. As with Holland, let him come up and get his feet wet pitching out of the bullpen -- yes, even in big situations. I think that will only help him as a starter down the road.