MVN - Most Valuable Network

Feldman’s Strong Effort Punctuates Rangers’ 6-1 Victory In Chicago

In the four-plus years that had passed since he was drafted out of the College of San Mateo with the 886th-overall pick in the 2003 MLB First-Year Player Draft, Scott Wynne Feldman had never pitched more than 79.1 innings in a single professional season.

Initially drafted as a starting pitcher out of the same junior college that yielded former All-Star closer John Wetteland, but subsequently developed by Texas as a reliever, Feldman’s rapid ascent through the minor leagues was nothing short of remarkable - particularly when considering that the once-corpulent sinkerballer lost virtually an entire year of development time after succumbing to Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery in October 2003.

After tossing just seven innings for the rookie-level Arizona Rangers in 2004, Feldman skyrocketed through the organizational ranks in 2005, making stops at High-A Bakersfield, Double-A Frisco, and ultimately Texas before his 79.1-inning campaign was complete.

Flash forward three years. Now 25 years old and facing a critical juncture after a disastrous 2007 campaign that resulted in new career highs in walks, hits and earned runs allowed, Feldman again seamlessly transitioned his role when his team needed him to do so - this time, from reliever back to starter.

By the All-Star break, he had accumulated more than 100 innings between Frisco and Texas, denoting a significant professional milestone - and a growing problem for the Rangers, who wished to limit their durable young commodity to approximately 135 innings on the season so as to protect his arm from the debilitating effects of fatigue going into 2008.

Shortly thereafter, the decision was made to move Feldman back to the bullpen. Again.

But then rookie right-hander Eric Hurley was declared a late scratch from his previously scheduled Monday evening start in Chicago, thanks to a sudden and rather unsettling case of soreness in his pitching shoulder that isn’t expected to impact his next scheduled start in Oakland on Sunday, but may well culminate in a “touch-and-go” situation if his shoulder doesn’t cooperate with that timetable.

So, yet again, Feldman reassumed his rotation responsibilities, this time as an emergency spot-starter in a game the Rangers desperately needed to secure, if for nothing else but the morale boost that would undoubtedly result from being vaulted into second place for the first time (outside of April) in nearly two years.

And boy, how he delivered.

With ample offensive security provided by Josh Hamilton’s three-run lightning bolt to dead center field, Hank Blalock’s two-run laser into the right field seats and a late-game ancillary run produced by Ian Kinsler’s ninth-inning RBI sacrifice fly, Feldman tossed six crisp, effective innings in support of his enthusiastic teammates on Monday evening, requiring just 85 pitches to put his team in position to win.

A trio of flawlessly executed double plays turned by baseball’s second-worst defense immeasurably aided Feldman in his quest for excellence, with one in particular - the nifty rally-stifling Blalock-to-Kinsler-to-Davis turn with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth inning - really standing out.

Feldman ultimately surrendered just a single earned run on a trademark Carlos Quentin special that sailed over and beyond the left field fence, which trimmed the Rangers’ lead to 3-1 but did not at all loosen their grip on the game. Several more close calls to the warning track momentarily raised blood pressure counts across north Texas, but those temporary spikes quickly subsided with the blissful sight of baseball landing in glove.

Frank Francisco, Eddie Guardado and Jamey Wright: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. You couldn’t draw it up better if you tried.

And the Texas Rangers, in spite of their still-desperate plight where the American League playoff picture is concerned, became the second-place Texas Rangers for the first time this late in the season since August 16th, 2006 - a game in which Feldman, then just 23, sparked a memorable bench-clearing ninth-inning brawl by plunking Adam Kennedy of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and then made us all realize that his sidearm tendencies extended to fighting as well.

It’s simply uncanny how each time this ball club kicks us to the ground, they pick us right back up. And Feldman has been a huge, huge part of that season-long resiliency, often pitching just well enough to keep the Rangers right in the game.

You’ve gotta respect that.

As expected, catcher Taylor Teagarden is again Beijing-bound after being optioned back to Triple-A Oklahoma on Monday afternoon to clear room for Feldman on the active roster:

“Anytime you get sent down, you’re disappointed,” said Teagarden, a Carrollton Creekview and UT product. “But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play in the Olympics.”

[…]

“It’s awesome timing for me to get my debut underneath my belt and play a few games up here,” Teagarden said. “Whenever I come back up, it will be that much easier.”

Fellow backstop Gerald Laird (strained right hamstring) is scheduled to embark on a three-game minor league rehab assignment today with Oklahoma, laying the groundwork for his potential return on Friday. With the New York Yankees’ Jorge Posada possibly out for the season, there’s an opportunity present for Texas to exploit the dire straits of their former playoff nemesis.

Brandon McCarthy (right forearm inflammation) will be Laird’s batterymate.

An idle question: Has there been a bigger non-story this season than the ongoing “feud” between closer C.J. Wilson and White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen? I know controversy sells newspapers, but this is ridiculous.

T.R. Sullivan’s latest MLB.com mailbag includes this rather emotionally-charged response to the idea of trading Michael Young, which isn’t economically feasible regardless:

What are your thoughts on the Rangers trading Michael Young? Many teams need a quality shortstop (i.e. Dodgers and Red Sox) and maybe they would part with a Clayton Kershaw or a Clay Buchholz.
– Drew T., Plano, Texas

Young has a no-trade clause in his contract. If you do trade him, you need to get Major League-ready players and not more Bakersfield/Clinton superstars. You need to get three good ones, and they better get here immediately because you’re cutting the heart out of your team by trading Young. His tangibles may not be what they once were, but his intangibles are beyond the measure of a sabrematician. His future position may be in doubt but not his future leadership. Championship teams needs great young players/pitchers but they also need a definite heart and soul. Guys like Mike Lowell and Tim Salmon (2002 Angels) come to mind.

Sidewinding reliever Wes Littleton hasn’t allowed an earned run in 8.1 innings pitched for Oklahoma this month.

RedHawks first baseman Chris Shelton has batted .333/.388/.511 with a pair of long balls in 45 AB since being designated for assignment back on June 26th to clear room on the active roster for Chris Davis. With no chance for advancement through the ranks, expect the 28-year-old Salt Lake City native to depart for greener pastures this coming winter.

Coincidentally, Shelton’s solo home run on Monday evening broke up John “Wayback” Wasdin’s perfect game for the Memphis Redbirds after seven innings. Ryan Roberts, a University of Texas at Arlington alum and potential future beneficiary if some club should bowl the Rangers over with an offer they can’t refuse for the reportedly frustrated Ramon Vazquez, collected Oklahoma’s only other hit on the evening.

Outfielder Freddy Guzman, the Dominican speed demon Texas relinquished to obtain Shelton last December, has comparatively batted .276/.348/.427 in 377 AB between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo in the Detroit Tigers organization, swiping 43 bases in 51 attempts. The 27-year-old baserunning terror has yet to appear in a Major League game this season, but his utility as a potent pinch-runner off the bench might yet earn him a September look.

Flamethrowing right-hander Robinson Tejeda has struck out 14 batters in 12.2 innings pitched for the Kansas City Royals this season. And walked seven.

Anybody else notice that Ian Gac has hardly skipped a beat offensively since his June promotion from Low-A Clinton (.310/.403/.592, 19 HR in 255 AB) to Bakersfield (.323/.387/.505, 4 HR in 93 AB)? Even the minor power drop-off appears to be reversing itself, as the 22-year-old first baseman has belted homers in three of his last five games. With Gac’s 23rd birthday less than three weeks away, expect the Rangers to continue aggressively pushing their emerging slugger.

Keep an eye on Joseph Wieland, the prep right-hander Texas snagged with their fourth-round pick this past June and quickly inked to a $263,000 signing bonus. Since being assigned to the Arizona League, the 18-year-old hurler has quietly spun 21 satisfactory innings, posting a 2.57 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in seven appearances (four of which have been starts) while allowing an anemic opponents’ batting average of .218.

Here’s what I penned on Wieland back on June 5th, mere hours after Day One was in the books:

Perhaps the hidden jewel of the Rangers’ post-Justin Smoak Day One bounty, Wieland offers an 88-to-91 MPH fastball (with room to add more velocity as he matures), a solid-average curve and the makings of a plus changeup. Most important, however, is an oft-attached keyword: pitchability. Stellar command, excellent mound poise and clean mechanics could have him in Arlington sooner than many might think.

You know how you’ll sometimes just get a really good feeling about a certain player? Wieland has evoked that feeling from me.

And after that latest gutsy effort, so has Scott Feldman.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 3:18 am and is filed under The Season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.