Neftali Feliz: He's Good... A Little Too Good

by BuckyB on Aug 26, 2009 11:58 AM CDT

We all know what's up with Neftali:

16.1 IP, 5H, 1BB, 21K, 0.55 ERA... certified bad ass

Here's the problem: The guy is too good.

When Neftali pitches in a game, the follow-up Rangers pitchers are inferior. Period.

Rangers' pitchers who come into the game after Neftali is done dominating:

11.1 IP, 9ER, 5K, 7BB, 17H or 7.30 ERA, 4.05 K/9, 5.68 BB/9, 2.16 WHIP

Broken down to our normally dominate bullpen-ers:

O'Day: The aberration: 4IP, 2.25 ERA, 2.25 K/9, 4.5 BB/9, 1.00 WHIP
Grilli: Infiniti everything
C.J.: 1 IP (3 appearances), 36.00 ERA, 9.00 K/9, 9.00 BB/9, 54.00 WHIP
Franky: 3.2 IP, 5.625 ERA, 8.43 K/9, 2.81 BB/9, 1.875 WHIP

My attempted explanation for this phenomena (as our bullpen has dominated this year in games when Feliz hasn't pitched and games not in early April):

Neftali : Swinging with a donut :: Rest of the bullpen : Swinging without the donut

Batters see the ball better with a new perspective on Franky's, "easy-to-hit" 95 mph fastball
Batters have a renewed sense of confidence, "Oh thank God, now I only have to face Franky and C.J."
Franky and C.J. develop an inferiority-complex and don't pitch with the same confidence as usual, another analogy, if I may: ...... Franky after watching Feliz pitch :: Me next to Ron Jeremy at the urinal

I think O'Day has bested this by not being a fastball pitcher. . This post isn't entirely serious, but I think there is something to be said for having your best pitcher also be your closer (even if it is in 2 inning stints). I realize there is the confidence/experience arguments against him closing games, but I think the Rangers are in the rare position to go to a closer by committee formula, with Feliz pitching the 8/9 in close games sometimes, and Franky pitching the 9th in others. To be clear, I'm entirely worried about Franky in the closer situation, however, nothing is wrong with trying to make the team better.

Poll

Ranger's closer situation should be:

Franky is the man

92 votes

Feliz all day every day

86 votes

Feliz and Franky split the duties

64 votes

C.J. takes over again, despite not having any other lefties in the bullpen

16 votes

Hank F Blalock

96 votes

354 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 43 comments | 8 recs |

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Comments

Hank

Just so he wouldn’t be allowed to hit

Must kill Moe. Weeeeeeeee

by Baseball North on Aug 26, 2009 12:25 PM CDT reply actions

Co-worker of mine actually mentioned this...

He mentioned that after seeing 100 MPH heat, the other pitches would be slower, and therefore easier to hit.

While I think this has certain merits to it, there is also the fact that any change in speed requires a timing adjustment, and therefore, should benefit the pitcher.

I think this is simply an issue of a couple of rough outings by CJ and Frankie against pretty good offenses.
Plus, I don’t think Franky has been on his A-game since his last DL trip. It seems to me that he’s just leaving more stuff up in the zone.

by Trickman on Aug 26, 2009 12:26 PM CDT reply actions

no, i think it definitely has merit

i mentioned this after his very first outing. pitch speed is all relative. an 88 mph fastball mixed in with a 78 mph change looks faster than a 93 mph fastball with an 87 mph change. the delta is what’s important. and late in a game, if a batter has just seen 97-100 mph cheese from Feliz in the 7th, Frankie’s 92-93, ramped up to 95 on occasion cheese won’t look like cheese at all, but more like cheeze.

What is this, Horseville? Because I'm surrounded by naysayers.

by clark on Aug 26, 2009 1:35 PM CDT up reply actions

How often are the same batters facing both

Feliz and then Frankie? Lets say Feliz faces the minimum in two innings…so 6 batters…the next reliever is going to face 3 different batters that didn’t face Feliz.

"You build 1000 bridges and suck 1 dick, you are not a bridge builder, you are a cocksucker." SaltyGoesYard

by Pocket Ninja on Aug 26, 2009 2:45 PM CDT up reply actions

Feliz can only pitch every other day...fine

on the days he pitches, I want him pitching the 8th and 9th. Let Frankie pitch the 7th on those days.

by Agreen07 on Aug 26, 2009 12:50 PM CDT reply actions

Meh...

I just think it’s a hiccup in a season where those guys have nothing short of dominant most of the time…

by N41D on Aug 26, 2009 1:06 PM CDT reply actions

I knew I shouldn't have put Hank in the poll

you ass holes :)

by BuckyB on Aug 26, 2009 1:11 PM CDT reply actions

A couple of years ago, the last choice in many LSB polls was

“Tom Hicks is the Devil”

It's baseball. You don't always get what you want, and you don't always want what you get. --Ed Coffin

by txranger7 on Aug 27, 2009 9:51 PM CDT up reply actions

Feliz for closer

No pitcher after Feliz fixes that problem.

I didn't know what a mancrush was. Derek Holland showed me.

by DerekSTheRed on Aug 26, 2009 1:12 PM CDT reply actions

whip game proper

What is this, Horseville? Because I'm surrounded by naysayers.

by clark on Aug 26, 2009 1:30 PM CDT reply actions

Frankie should be the closer

Even though I’d feel more comfortable with Feliz, Feliz is not a RP/CP. He’s on a specific schedule and will be put back into the starting rotation in the future.

by Coolbean04 on Aug 26, 2009 1:35 PM CDT reply actions

there is no doubt

in my mind he makes the pitchers behind him easier to hit. Damn fine post Bucky.

by corbsclinton on Aug 26, 2009 1:40 PM CDT reply actions

I would say

Let’s keep an eye on this

And if the trend continues, THEN I think you can maybe start thinking about moving some things around.

Until then, I think we just have to chalk this up to some pretty good offenses. New York, Boston and Tampa are 2, 3, 4 in runs scored

by oc on Aug 26, 2009 1:47 PM CDT reply actions

Agreed, and for CJ and Franky last night,

the hits were shitty dinkers for the most part

by BuckyB on Aug 26, 2009 1:50 PM CDT up reply actions

CJ didn't pitch last night

Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.

by bigsteve on Aug 26, 2009 3:06 PM CDT up reply actions

Sorry

Franky last night, and CJ

by BuckyB on Aug 26, 2009 3:23 PM CDT up reply actions

I tend to think

some of the bullpen issues are nothing other than an over worked pen. In the last 8 games, only Feldman had a start 6 innings or longer (7 innings).

I think those 5 inning starts can take their toll on bullpen arm fatigue.

"I don't condone steroids or any other type of growth hormones or anything else, but I could care less, and, for the most part, I don't think the fans give a (bleep). The people that care about it are the people that probably don't like baseball," - Jim Leyland

by DJCahill on Aug 26, 2009 1:58 PM CDT reply actions

It's been a long, break-free month, too

by BuckyB on Aug 26, 2009 1:59 PM CDT up reply actions

gagree

We really need a fresh arm or two that can provide shut down innings. Of course, every contender needs that, being that it’s late August.

I guess the candidates that could possibly provide that are Madrigal, Moscoso, and Strop, and we really need at least one of those guys to come up and hit the ground running. With the way the pen is looking right now, a couple of shutdown performances in a row would put a guy in the mix for those crucial 6th/7th innings on the days that Feliz is unavailable.

"You can probably stick a fork in the Rangers' playoff chances for 2009." - AJM on 7/26 with the team 4.5 games out

by tricer on Aug 26, 2009 2:21 PM CDT up reply actions

my money would be on Strop, as I've mentioned a few times recently

"You can probably stick a fork in the Rangers' playoff chances for 2009." - AJM on 7/26 with the team 4.5 games out

by tricer on Aug 26, 2009 2:22 PM CDT up reply actions

We definitely could use

a couple of 7 inning starts or better. The bullpen just doubles their workload when the starters go from 7 to 5 inning starts.

September will definitely help with some callups.

by DJCahill on Aug 26, 2009 3:11 PM CDT up reply actions

Sample size

FX2 is coming off injury and CJ has one inning under his belt.

by Sherman McCoy on Aug 26, 2009 2:05 PM CDT reply actions

I agree

and have had the same thoughts regarding those that follow Feliz in the game . I have coached youth baseball for years and picked up on this principle early on.

I was a Ranger fan when being a Rangers fan wasn't cool.

by JTodd on Aug 26, 2009 2:10 PM CDT reply actions

I think Feliz should pitch all our innings

Start every game, finish every game. I don’t see the problem with this plan.

Go Rice Owls!

by JBImaknee on Aug 26, 2009 2:26 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs

and batting practice

Think how good our hitters would perform after seeing Feliz in BP, then mortals during the games!!!

"You can probably stick a fork in the Rangers' playoff chances for 2009." - AJM on 7/26 with the team 4.5 games out

by tricer on Aug 26, 2009 2:30 PM CDT up reply actions

Interesting thoughts...

Maybe the solution is just hold Neftali for the 7th and 8th, instead of the 5-7th…

Horned Frog Frenzy

by FormerLSBUser on Aug 26, 2009 2:31 PM CDT reply actions

velocity

I notice on the graphs that Feliz 3 offerings come in at about 79, 89, 99 mph. That is what you call an arsenal. Having that assortment is just murder on hitters.

"You can probably stick a fork in the Rangers' playoff chances for 2009." - AJM on 7/26 with the team 4.5 games out

by tricer on Aug 26, 2009 2:39 PM CDT reply actions

Wow.

This post my InsideCorner’s “Lurking Around the Web” section today. Craziness.

If Brad Pitt is playing Beane who do you want playing you?
JD: Eddie Guardado.

by GhettoBear04 on Aug 26, 2009 2:54 PM CDT reply actions

holla!

by BuckyB on Aug 26, 2009 3:28 PM CDT up reply actions

my middle name is "not even plausible"

by BuckyB on Aug 26, 2009 3:31 PM CDT up reply actions

the problem is in the mph?

As near as i can tell, the pre-DL frankie was throwing 98mpg gas, and could normally get away with rearing back and throwing the stuffing out of it. But since the last DL, stint, I’ve yet to seehim throw a fastball above 94, and it seems like he’s getting pounded up the zone because of it.

by pg1073 on Aug 26, 2009 4:47 PM CDT reply actions

I'm not for Feliz for closer right now.

The problem with our pen, if any, is 6th/7th guys, bridge guys. Feliz, when available, fills that gap incredibly. I’m fine with DOD/CJ/Frankie in 8th, 9th.

Way to not lurk and instead shit all over yourself during your first fanshot.

-FirebatM3 to Ryan2907. 6/3/09.

by SarasotaRanger on Aug 26, 2009 4:58 PM CDT reply actions

Why save your best reliever for the last inning?

Don’t mean to start up that debate really, but it’s nice to have a shut-down reliever be able to come into any situation and shut the door. It’s not always necessary for a team’s best reliever to be the closer.

Just sayin’.

Overreacting is not part of my repertroire.

by skyharbor215 on Aug 26, 2009 5:52 PM CDT reply actions

I don't think thats the point of this post

I think what is trying to be portrayed here is that when Feliz comes in and smokes 100 mph heat by people it makes Frankie and CJ and everyone elses low-mid 90s stuff alot easier to hit because the hitter is geared up and has seen the true heat. Its a valid theory and one that probably needs a bigger sample size before any definitive conclusion can be drawn

Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.

by bigsteve on Aug 26, 2009 7:10 PM CDT up reply actions

Alternate closers...

but not with Feliz.

Fx2 and BGL should share the closing duties depending on who worked the day before and if the hitters in the 9th are mostly RH or LH. You have two closers on this team. Take advantage of it.

Feliz is fine in the role he’s in.

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates

by slc ranger on Aug 26, 2009 11:07 PM CDT reply actions