Kela Has Another Dominant Outing

With growing concerns of Neftali Feliz's reliability as a closer and the possibility of other noted arms in the bullpen starting the season on the disabled list, the case for putting Keone Kela on the Opening Day roster is growing by the day around the Texas Rangers.

The young fireballer once again showed what he's capable of on Sunday in a Cactus League outing that continued his run of being quite possibly the most dominant player in Rangers camp this spring.

Kela started his inning of work on a shaky note with a walk, but then he went on and retired the next three batters on just eight pitches — all strikes. It was a thing of beauty, and everyone is beginning to take notice.

“He was dominating,” new Rangers manager Jeff Banister told reporters. “He’s done everything we’ve asked of him. Today, he showed an ability to focus on the runner and control the running game and switch his focus to the batter in an instant. He showed awareness.”

Kela's spring has been phenomenal statistically speaking. He's thrown 8 1/3 innings, allowed no runs and just two hits while striking out 10 and walking two. That's about as good as you can get, and the Rangers would be crazy, at this point, to leave him off the Opening Day roster.

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