The Pittsburgh Pirates awoke from a slumberous off-season and bolstered their bullpen with the signing of reliever Neftali Feliz.
Source: Neftali Feliz, Pirates agree to one-year, $3.9 million deal.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 6, 2016
Below are the full career stats for the former Texas Ranger:
| Year | Age | W | L | G | GF | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1.74 | 20 | 3 | 2 | 31.0 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 39 | 2.48 | 0.677 | 3.8 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 11.3 | 4.88 |
| 2010 ★ | 22 | 4 | 3 | 2.73 | 70 | 59 | 40 | 69.1 | 43 | 21 | 21 | 5 | 18 | 71 | 2.96 | 0.880 | 5.6 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 9.2 | 3.94 |
| 2011 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 2.74 | 64 | 56 | 32 | 62.1 | 42 | 22 | 19 | 4 | 30 | 54 | 3.57 | 1.155 | 6.1 | 0.6 | 4.3 | 7.8 | 1.80 |
| 2012 | 24 | 3 | 1 | 3.16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 42.2 | 28 | 15 | 15 | 5 | 23 | 37 | 4.64 | 1.195 | 5.9 | 1.1 | 4.9 | 7.8 | 1.61 |
| 2013 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3.26 | 1.500 | 9.6 | 0.0 | 3.9 | 7.7 | 2.00 |
| 2014 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 1.99 | 30 | 22 | 13 | 31.2 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 21 | 4.90 | 0.979 | 5.7 | 1.4 | 3.1 | 6.0 | 1.91 |
| 2015 | 27 | 3 | 4 | 6.38 | 48 | 24 | 10 | 48.0 | 57 | 34 | 34 | 5 | 18 | 39 | 4.05 | 1.563 | 10.7 | 0.9 | 3.4 | 7.3 | 2.17 |
| 2015 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 4.58 | 18 | 12 | 6 | 19.2 | 24 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 16 | 4.20 | 1.678 | 11.0 | 0.9 | 4.1 | 7.3 | 1.78 |
| 2015 | 27 | 2 | 2 | 7.62 | 30 | 12 | 4 | 28.1 | 33 | 24 | 24 | 3 | 9 | 23 | 3.95 | 1.482 | 10.5 | 1.0 | 2.9 | 7.3 | 2.56 |
| 7 Yrs | 15 | 12 | 3.17 | 246 | 166 | 97 | 289.2 | 208 | 105 | 102 | 26 | 110 | 265 | 3.69 | 1.098 | 6.5 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 8.2 | 2.41 | |
As Passan reports, Feliz will earn $3.9 million for 2016. Once again the bullpen has become a focus for Pittsburgh Pirates GM Neal Huntington. Feliz joins new relief acquisitions Kyle Lobstein and Juan Nicasio.
Feliz is a classic reliever in the sense that he carries a small but effective pitch selection. Relying exclusively on a four-seam/slider/changeup combination, Feliz has struggled with control in the past, though his walks-per-nine did drop in 2015 to 2.9, the lowest total since his rookie-of-the-year season in 2010. Of his three pitches, Feliz relies on his fastball the most, using it for 61.82% of his total pitches in 2015. Possibly because of that reliance, batters weren’t fooled much by the pitch, with the heat carrying just a 11.27 percent whiff-rate per Brooks Baseball.
The Feliz signing could signify a corresponding trade involving Mark Melancon, though no indication in recent days and weeks has led to any inkling of movement for the 2015 MLB leader in saves. If Ray Searage and company can return to Feliz to form, he’ll be a welcomed addition to the bullpen.
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