The Red Sox have signed Michael Feliz to a minor league contract, according to MLB.com’s official transactions page. The right-hander will report to Triple-A Worcester. Feliz hit the open market earlier this week after being released by the Reds.
The 28-year-old hasn’t pitched in a big league game since June 6, after a right elbow sprain landed him on Cincinnati’s 60-day injured list. Between this absence and an earlier IL visit (due to a cracked fingernail) when he was a member of the Pirates organization earlier this season, Feliz has appeared in only 16 games this season, with an 8.79 ERA over 14 1/3 combined innings with the Pirates and Reds.
With an even 30% strikeout rate over 241 innings in The Show, Feliz’s ability to miss bats has never been in question. Staying healthy, avoiding walks, and delivering consistent results has been another matter entirely, as Feliz has only a 5.38 ERA while appearing in parts of seven MLB seasons. He began his career with the Astros from 2015-17, so should he make Boston’s active roster, he’ll find a familiar face in former Houston bench coach and current Red Sox manager Alex Cora.
The Sox will become the latest team to see if they can harness Feliz’s prodigious strikeout ability, and for the cost of just a minor league deal, there’s no real risk on Boston’s part. Despite his 5.38 career ERA, Feliz’s SIERA is over two runs lower at 3.35, so there is some measure of misfortune involved in his performance. That said, Feliz hasn’t helped his cause with a 9.9% career walk rate and a 15.6% career home run rate.
The rational mind says ok, more minor league fodder. Just money so nothing to lose.
The rest of me says flailing chaim bloom thinks he grabbed another ace for the rotation.
A great guy to have as AAA depth/guy to have come up as the worst guy in the bullpen. Would have been guaranteed more if he went to an NPB team
This may be true BUT if Bloom hits on just one of the minor league signings he’s made since the trade deadline… it would be a BIG boost for for Red Sox bullpen. It may still be a Longshot but he’s signed 3 guys who have ‘potential’ and if one of the three can actually figure it out… man would that be a steal to solidify the bullpen In September.
that should have said with “potential” not “promise” haha
These types of signings at this time of year are more for the future, not the current season. Even if this guy “figures it out” right away in the minors, he wouldn’t be trusted on the expanded 28-man roster.
Anyone who loves the Red Sox hopes for any of these low cost rolls of the dice to come through.
At the same time, and its an entirely different conversation, many of us say the bullpen has been a problem for years. It should have been better addressed by now, and, its a blatant failure that it remains in the condition it does.
Bullpen has not been the problem. Anyone watching in May or June could see this coming. Only Pivetta and Eovaldi still today can go deep. such wears out the pen. Richards has looked surprisingly good in relief and like 18 with Kelly and Barnes, the team may have to rely on players with inconsistent pasts to have a shot.
I also hate the one game play-in. Baseball is not football where the same starter can carry the team week to week. It’s a six month season when you play series after series. Why then potentially have one game with healthy Coles and Sales starting? Sounds juicy but deprives the sport of one team that is as good or better than Chicago and Houston. Either increase the playoffs or better yet return to just one wild card and have all seven game playoff series. Play-ins should be reserved to break ties.
The way it is now, the play-in winner is at a huge disadvantage by having to burn your staff in that one game. You play six months for the best to showcase on the networks and the best is not there it not at full strength. In the NL it’s the same thing. As of today, the Dodgers will play in that one game. No way Cincinnati deserves or any other team to play them yet one game who the heck knows what could happen. Seven games? No way they win more than one.
Years? The bullpen was great in 2018. It was a problem in 2019 because Kimbrel and Kelly left, Last year was a non-season as far as I’m concerned.
And this year? Our Top Six relievers thru July were probably the best in MLB.
Then Darwinzon got hurt, Barnes became a headcase, and Cora mismanaged the pen by putting the worst relievers in high leverage situations.
I’d say the pen was the #1 reason, along with the hitting of Devers/Xander/JD, why the Sox had the best record in the league near the end of July.
Play In game, of course, is all about money. I agree that going back to a one-team wildcard would be better.
I’m fine with 5-game LDS though, baseball should not be played in November.
Fever, the pen was surprisingly great the second half of 18 because Barnes and Kelly for the first time, put it together for a long stretch when it mattered. Even then, Kimberly imploded and it took creativity from Cora and gutsy relief appearances from Eovaldi, Sale and Price to finish off that magnificent season.
We are 7th in BP ERA, and the second fewest losses in the AL. It could be better, but it is not close to a blatant failure.
Joe, my take is the bullpen had to wear out sooner or later due to the starters not working late into the game. Bloom has done an overall very good job but far from perfect Given the surprise position the team was in back in late July, he should have grabbed a couple of the better available relievers. Getting KS was a solid bat move but we knew that while CS and TH were coming, they were not initially going deep.
I thought the BP was one of the two needs, with a 1B being the other. The issue, imho, is that we are at $209.5M. Anything more than a minimum wage RP would put us over the top.
What really gets me is how, listening to the radio broadcasts, the narrative changed from “5 and fly is fine” to “why is our bullpen trash?”
How about because the starters are only carrying about 80% of the load they “should be?” At this rate, a team is going to need ten guys that can pitch 5 innings, and then 2 or 3 traditional relievers.
I’m curious how long it will take people like you to realize Bloom is the best thing that could have happened to Boston at that time
I was a DD fan as he did exactly what ownership wanted. He win at all costs. Yet I like Bloom to date big time. Fans need to wait until after 22 or because of COVID to after 23 to then compare trophies, payroll management and rosters including the minors to evaluate against TE, BS and DD each of which won at least one title yet they also ended their run with either clubhouse or payroll problems.
Love Bloom and think it was a great hire. The Red Sox have been fun to watch this year and the farm system is exponentially better in a very short time. Nothing wrong with this move. Roll the dice.
He’s been great. We’re on pace for 92-93 wins, and have a much, much better farm. Outside of extensions for Renfroe, Verdugo, Bogaerts & Devers, I’m not sure what else I could expect.
Seriously, how can the rest of you think that Bloom thinks this guy is an ace? Of the 330,000,000 people in this country, not a single person thinks this guy is an ace. I think your hatred of Bloom keeps you up at night thinking of ways to annoy yourself.
Maybe I can help you out. The TB model for their BP is high K/W guys, and they acquire guys that can strike people out, with the hope of teaching them some control.. Virtually their entire BP came from outside their system. They have the best BP in the league, and it cost them virtually nothing in terms of draft picks and salary.
Another dumpster diving for Bloom.
Feliz was a solid bullpen piece with the Astros and Pirates from 2016-19. He wasn’t bad in 7 outings with the Pirates earlier this season. It was his last outing with the Reds when he gave up 5 earned runs without recording an out that did him in
It’s tough for guys to succeed when they have no movement on their fastball. You throw 98 but when it’s straight it’s either a swing-and-miss and a lot of strikeouts or the thing is plowed to center field as a home run. I don’t think guys can suddenly learn to have a little movement on their pictures. If they do they’re throwing a curveball that misses the plate or a slider that ends up out of the strike zone and they walk too many guys.
I remember Alan Embree the same thing… the guy threw a hundred miles an hour but it was straight as an arrow. Was either a strikeout or a home run.
It was also much easier for guys of the Embree mold to stick round before the 3 batter rule.
It looks like we will probably sneak into that second wild card spot so anything that can boost us for the postseason will help.
Decent signing by the Sox. A main reason the pirates DFA him was the bullpen at that time was clogged with younger R arms and they were going to suck anyways. He was hurt in Cincinnati. Low risk attempt to see if he got anything left
Imagine being a grown man and actually saying these words’ i cant pitch, i have a cracked fingernail’
im sry but is this guy 12? absolutely pathetic thats considered an ‘injury’
The issue might be more that he cannot pitch effectively, not that he cannot pitch at all. He can probably still reach home plate with the pitch, but against the best hitters in the world, he might need a little more than that.
The bullpen for boston has not been the problem, its been the subpar patchwork of the starting rotation, even with sale we have a horrendous starting 5, ask yourself, what team in the middle of august takes TWO starting pitchers and put them in the bullpen, NOT for the playoff push, but because they are awful, And perez has been even worse where he is, hopefully they make Whitlock the full time closer, do something with barnes, keep richards where he is, DFA perez and salvage what you can. Funny, 2 months ago they are in first place.. now they are barely hanging on to the 2nd wildcard spot,