Getting Typecast: Neftali Feliz

After a back and forth spring, it was announced today that Neftali Feliz would be returning to the back end of the bullpen as the Ranger's closer. I don't need to state or explain why a starter is more valuable than a closer. That horse has been beaten to death. As for Feliz.. He was excellent as a starter during his limited minor league career, and has been just as good as a reliever since reaching the show in late 2009.  I am unaware of any scout or talent evaluator who doesn't think he can succeed at the top of a rotation at this point in his career.

Regardless, he is closing, and so what does this mean for a player with his track record?



First off, Feliz's performance last year was unprecedented. No baseball pitcher under the age of 23 in history has recorded 40 saves. Obviously, pitchers this young rarely get an opportunity to close, and even then save chances are unpredictable, but this is still a feat in and of itself.

If we expand the search for pitchers under the age of 25 who saved 40 or more games in a season then six more pitchers qualify - Ugueth Urbina, K-Rod (3 times), Rod Beck, Bobby Jenks, Joakim Soria, and Chad Cordero - and the only of them to ever so much as start a game in the big leagues was Urbina, who started 21 games before he was 22 years old and converted to a closer.

Finally, if we lower the save threshold to 35 while still looking at pitchers under 25 then we get 10 more young closers added to the mix. Of these pitchers, the only ones who even started games in MLB were John Wetteland - who, like Urbina, tried his hand at starting for 17 games when he first came up - Mitch Williams*, and Byung-Hyun Kim.

*Williams deserves a side note here of his own. For whatever reason, and I can't figure out why, Williams started two games in September of 1990 for the Cubs. He had been the Cubs closer all season long, had acquired 14 saves, and then got shellacked in back-to-back starts against the Expos and Cards. His total line from his two starts: 6.1 IP, 11 H, 7 ER, 4BB, and 2K. Two weeks later he would finish the season with two more saves. Needless to say, he would never start again.


So the only comparable pitcher to Feliz is old BK Kim. Who really has no comparisons himself, with his spectacular flameout as a reliever followed by his less than spectacular exit from all of baseball at age 28.

Young pitchers who become closers stay closers. The reason they never become starters is because they never get the opportunity. If the Rangers do eventually decide to let Feliz start then he will be the first young reliever with his pedigree to make the switch.