It was bound to happen at some point. The Texas Rangers finally had to make their first roster move of the season on Monday, sending closer-turned-starter Neftali Feliz to the 15-day disabled list and bringing up reliever Yoshi Tateyama from Triple-A Round Rock.
Feliz may be on the 15-day DL but doctors said he can't throw for four weeks, and Rangers GM Jon Daniels said it would be more like six weeks before Feliz will likely even begin throwing.
That hurts the Rangers, obviously, but the team has options moving forward as they've had to place a starting pitcher on the DL for the first time since 2010.
The obvious short-term solution, and the one the Rangers will use is Scott Feldman, the team's long relief man who voiced his desire to be a starter at the end of last season and into spring training, when he was arguably the best Rangers pitcher on the staff.
Feldman has been getting very minimal work (just 15 innings) as the long man hasn't been utilized very often for a good Rangers team. He's made a couple of spot starts and has a 3.00 ERA. This is the same Scott Feldman who won 17 games back in 2009 but has struggled to break through the stacked rotation since. Now he's getting his chance.
There's also the Alexi Ogando situation, but Ogando has proven to be far too valuable in the Rangers bullpen as probably the most valuable on the roster right up there with Mike Adams. Ogando, of course, was an all-star as a starting pitcher last year before hitting the proverbial wall after the all-star break due to his increased workload. Even if they wanted him to take Feliz's place he wouldn't be stretched out for at least a couple of weeks.
The other option is Roy Oswalt, who wants to pitch again and wants to sign somewhere. He's worked out for Texas and has a relationship with Nolan Ryan from his days as a Houston Astro when Ryan was in the front office there at the minor league level.
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So Feldman is finally going to get his second chance to be an every fifth day guy, at least until Feliz gets healthy. And just a note to Feliz: Next time your arm hurts, don't wait two weeks to say something.
