Age: 22 (May 2)
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’3” Weight: 235
Prior to 2010:
A native of
Azua in the Dominican Republic, where he attended Sofia Benitez High School and
developed into a pitching prospect, Feliz signed with the Atlanta Braves in
2005 for a $100,000 bonus at age 17 and first pitched for the Dominican Braves
before moving on to the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 2006 where he
appeared in 11 games (5 of them starts) and was 0-2 with a 4.03 ERA and 42
strikeouts over the course of 29 innings. In 2007 he was traded to the Rangers in
July and saw action at the Rookie and Class A levels, where he went a combined
2-2 with a 2.55 ERA and 55 strikeouts over 42.1 innings pitched. Used
exclusively as a starting pitcher in 2008, Feliz was 6-3 with Clinton of the
Class A Midwest League and had a 2.52 ERA and 106 strikeouts over 82 innings
and, moving on to the Frisco RoughRiders of the Class AA Texas League he
further compiled a 4-3 record with a 2.98 ERA and 47 strikeouts over 45.1
innings. He advanced to Oklahoma City of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League in
2009 and, starting 13 of his 25 games, was 4-6 with a 3.49 ERA and 75
strikeouts. Called up to the Rangers in August, Feliz relieved in 20 games and
produced a 1-0 record with a 1.74 ERA and 39 strikeouts over 31 innings. An
aggressive competitor with an excellent fastball, he was developing his
changeup and curveball. He replaced the faltering Frank Francisco as the
bullpen closer early during the 2010 season.
2010 Season Summary
Appeared in 70
games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 70 [11,
tied with four others]
Games Started –
0
Complete Games
– 0
Wins – 4
Losses – 3
PCT - .571
[Non-qualifying]
Saves – 40 [3]
Shutouts – 0
Innings Pitched
– 69.1
Hits – 43
Runs – 21
Earned Runs – 21
Home Runs – 5
Bases on Balls
– 18
Strikeouts – 71
ERA – 2.73
[Non-qualifying]
Hit Batters – 5
Balks – 0
Wild Pitches – 5
Midseason
Snapshot: 1-2, ERA - 3.82, G – 39, SV – 23, SO - 42 in 37.2 IP
---
Most
strikeouts, game – 3 on five occasions
Fielding
Chances – 5
Put Outs – 3
Assists – 2
Errors – 0
DP – 0
Pct. - 1.000
Postseason
Pitching:
G – 7 (ALDS vs.
Tampa Bay – 2 G; ALCS vs. NY Yankees – 3 G; World Series vs. San Francisco – 2
G)
GS – 0, CG – 0,
Record – 0-0, PCT – .000, SV – 1, ShO – 0, IP – 7.1, H – 3, R – 1, ER – 1, HR –
1 BB – 5, SO – 11, ERA – 1.23, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 0
Awards & Honors:
AL Rookie of
the Year: BBWAA
All-Star
AL ROY Voting
(Top 4):
Neftali Feliz,
Tex.: 122 pts. – 20 of 28 first place votes, 87% share
Austin Jackson,
Det.: 98 pts. – 8 first place votes, 70% share
Danny Valencia,
Min.: 12 pts. – 9% share
Wade Davis, TB:
11 pts. – 8% share
---
Rangers went 90-72
to finish first in the AL Western Division by 9 games over the Oakland Athletics.
Won ALDS over the Tampa Bay Rays, 3 games to 2 & ALCS over the New York
Yankees, 4 games to 2 for the first league pennant in franchise history. Lost
World Series to the San Francisco Giants, 4 games to 1.
Aftermath of 2010:
After becoming
the first major league rookie pitcher to record 40 saves in a season, Feliz
followed up in 2011 with 32 saves and a 2-3 record and 71 strikeouts over 69.1
innings. The Rangers again won the AL pennant and Feliz failed to close out
Game 6 of the World Series against St. Louis, surrendering a game-tying two-run
triple in the ninth inning in the contest eventually won by the Cardinals, who
also won the deciding seventh game. Moved into the starting rotation in 2012,
he was 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA when he went on the disabled list with an arm injury
and underwent “Tommy John” surgery, which cost him the remainder of the season.
Still recovering from surgery in 2013, Feliz returned to the Rangers in
September and appeared in six games with no decisions. In an injury-interrupted
2014 season, he split time between the set-up and closer roles and in 30
appearances ended up with a 2-1 record and 13 saves with a 1.99 ERA. In 2015 he
was released in July and signed with the Detroit Tigers, finishing with a
combined 3-4 tally and 10 saves and a 6.38 ERA. Feliz signed as a free agent
with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2016, appeared in 62 games and posted a 4-2
record with two saves and a 3.52 ERA. He split 2017 between the Brewers and Royals
and was a combined 2-5 with 8 saves and a 5.48 ERA in 49 appearances. Signing a
minor league deal with Arizona for 2018, Feliz was 6-5 as a starter and reliever
for the Reno Aces of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. He was still toiling
in the minors in 2019. For his major league career, Feliz posted a 21-19 record
and 107 saves while appearing in 357 games, with a 3.49 ERA and 363 strikeouts
over 389.1 innings pitched. With the Rangers he was 13-10 with 93 saves and 242
strikeouts over 261.1 innings. In 18 postseason games, he had no decisions and
recorded 7 saves along with a 1.93 ERA and 23 strikeouts over 18 innings. Widely
considered to be a tremendous pitching prospect during his rise to the major
leagues, he showed great promise in his early seasons with the Rangers but has
not been able to regain that form.
--
Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of
the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America
(1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from
its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major
league.
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