Last season in the first two rounds of the playoffs, Scott Feldman pitched 8 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball in four outings and picked up a win over the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS. He was part of a stellar bullpen effort put forth by the Rangers before they eventually all hit a big wall in the World Series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
This season, while being shifted back and forth between the starting rotation and the bullpen, Feldman has been the epitome of up and down, and right now he's in a down trend having lost his past four outings after winning six straight, after losing six straight.
So here's a suggestion for the Rangers and manager Ron Washington, that was first brought up by the great Norm Hitzges. Maybe Feldman should move back to the bullpen to get him groomed for that role heading into October. After all, you know Feldman is not going to make the postseason rotation, which will be cut down to four men.
Why not give Roy Oswalt or even Martin Perez (after he's called up on Sept. 1 when rosters expand) Feldman's September starts and let Feldman acclimate himself back to the long relief role in the bullpen. It worked in the postseason last year, so who's to say it won't this year?
