Neftali Feliz said on Monday he'd feel more comfortable in his previous role as the team's closer, a role which earned him AL Rookie of the Year honors for the 2010 season.
Does that proclamation open the door for Alexi Ogando?
Ogando was a beast last year. After his call-up, he made 44 appearances, throwing 41.2 innings and striking out 39 batters with just 16 walks and sported a 1.30 ERA. That's what you call "solid".
Now, the lanky, hard-throwing righty is getting his shot at cracking the starting rotation. And many think he's more prepared, right now, for the role than Feliz would be with his more developed arsenal of pitches and better off-speed stuff.
Ogando made his starting debut on Monday night against the team that killed the Rangers' World Series dreams a few months ago, the San Francisco Giants.
Ogando worked quickly. He was effective. He threw three scoreless innings, giving up just two singles and two walks while striking out four batters. Pretty impressive stuff.
Personally, I think Ogando and Feliz should stay in the bullpen because it would give the Rangers arguably one of the best pens in the game with those two at the back end behind the likes of Mark Lowe, Darren O'Day, Arthur Rhodes and Darren Oliver.
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But of the two, I do think Ogando should get a chance instead of Feliz. His bag of pitches is more equipped to start right now than Feliz, and he seems to want it, which Feliz openly said he really doesn't.
