Rangers Place Feliz on 15-Day Disabled List
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The Texas Rangers announced this afternoon that the club has placed right-handed pitcher Neftali Feliz on the 15-day disabled list with right elbow inflammation. To take his place on the 25-man roster, the team has recalled right-handed pitcher Yoshinori Tateyama (#22) from Triple-A Round Rock. Feliz was scheduled to pitch Wednesday’s series finale in Seattle, and the Rangers have not named a replacement starter for that game.
Feliz, 24, has gone 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA (15 ER/42.2 IP) in 8 games/7 starts for Texas this season. The club’s 5th starter to begin the year, he last pitched on Friday at Houston (4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R-ER, 5 BB, 6 SO, 101 pitches/50 strikes), taking a no decision in the Rangers 4-1 victory. Feliz has gone 3-1 with a 3.02 ERA (14 ER/41.2 IP) in his 7 starts in 2012, his first season in the rotation.
Tateyama, 36, will be seeking his first big league action in 2012. He began the season on the Rangers’ 15-day disabled list (March 30-April 13) with a low back muscle strain, and was optioned to Round Rock on March 14 after a brief rehabilitation assignment there. Tateyama has gone 1-0 with one save and a 0.54 ERA (1 ER/16.2 IP) in 12 relief appearances for the Express this season, holding Pacific Coast League opponents to a .200 (12-60) average with 4 walks and 14 strikeouts. He has not allowed an earned run his last 8 games and 12.0 innings beginning April 24. Tateyama last pitched on Friday vs. Fresno (2.0 IP, 0 R) and has 8 strikeouts in his past 3 appearances and 5.0 innings of work.
Tateyama made his major league debut with Texas in 2011, going 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA (22 ER/44.0 IP) in 39 relief outings. His 3.91 strikeout-to-walk ratio (43 SO/11 BB) last season was the 6th-best figure by a Texas reliever in the last 12 seasons (minimum 150 batters faced). Tateyama was on the Rangers’ roster for the 2011 American League Championship Series against Detroit, making his lone appearance in Game 3 of that series.
This is the first transaction involving the Rangers 25-man roster all season, as it had remained the same since it was set on April 4 ahead of Opening Day. It was the latest date the Rangers had ever gone in a season before making the first roster move. The previous latest move had come in 1976, when John Ellis dislocated his ankle on a slide into second base on May 9 at Boston and was placed on the DL with a fractured ankle on May 10. Ken Pape was recalled from Sacramento on May 10 that year.
With these moves, the Rangers still have 39 players on the club’s 40-man roster.
