Major League Baseball

Neftali Feliz eager to stay healthy and return to 'elite' status as Rangers' closer

Published Mar. 16, 2015 2:28 p.m. ET

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From 2010 to 2011, Texas Rangers reliever Neftali Feliz was one of the most dominant arms in the league. He had a career-high 40 saves for the A.L. pennant-winning Rangers in 2010 and followed that up with 32 more a year later. 

Just when it seemed he was destined for a lengthy run as one of the top closers in the game, injuries struck — Tommy John operation and subsequent recovery time limited him to just 14 appearances overall between 2012 and 2013.  

The time off had taken its toll on Feliz's arm, as he had issues last spring showing the same kind of 'stuff' he had a few years before. He did manage to put it together enough to wind up saving 13 games for last year's Rangers, finishing with a 1.99 ERA in 31 2/3 innings. 

As the Rangers prepare for a 2015 they hope will be significantly better than last year's nightmare (even with Yu Darvish set to miss the year with his own Tommy John recovery), Feliz is at the forefront of those looking to reclaim the magic. By all accounts, he's pitching at spring training with the kind of emotion and fire of a man on a mission. As new manager Jeff Banister told MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan of Feliz's performance last Friday against the San Francisco Giants:

Friday's outing was just Feliz's second of the spring, as the Rangers ease him into duty. After spending his offseason working with a personal trainer, Feliz pitched with an added focus on Friday:

With the Rangers' bullpen in somewhat of a flux, considering there are a handful of pitchers without clearly defined roles presumably in the mix for 2015, the team needs someone like Feliz. If he's able to have a strong (and healthy) final few weeks of spring training, it'd go a long way toward further establishing him as Banister's go-to guy for the ninth inning. After all, Feliz is familiar with that kind of role:

Texas could use a good redemption story as the team seeks to at least partially erase the difficulties of 2014's lost season, and a successful, consistent Neftali Feliz would do a lot to help make that happen. 

(H/T MLB.com)

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