In 2016, when the Astros were on the verge of being a playoff contender, Michael Feliz was one of the most promising young relievers in the American League. The hard-throwing right-hander set a club record for a rookie with 13.15 strikeouts per nine innings, and the front office didn't rule out his becoming a starter.
A disastrous second half of 2017 changed that perception, though. Feliz, 24, was left off the Astros' postseason roster and was unlikely to earn a roster spot with the club in spring training in 2018.
After being dealt to the Pirates in the five-player trade that sent Gerrit Cole to Houston, Feliz will now compete for a late-inning role in Pittsburgh as he tries to rediscover what made him effective not so long ago.
"Michael Feliz brings a couple years of major-league experience to our bullpen with the potential for additional development and advancement into a late inning relief role," Neal Huntington said in a news release. "Michael's high strikeout approach is supported by a power fastball and a quality slider."
Like Kyle Crick, whom the Pirates acquired from the Giants in the Andrew McCutchen trade, Feliz has the fastball velocity and movement in his breaking pitches to be a formidable piece in the bullpen. But fastball command became a problem in 2017. During his first 23 appearances of the season, Feliz had a 2.10 ERA while allowing a .633 OPS with 35 strikeouts and only nine walks. However, in his final 22 1/3 innings, Feliz recorded a 9.67 ERA with a 1.056 OPS against, 35 strikeouts and 13 walks. Additionally, 80 percent of his inherited runners scored.
His struggles became so costly that he was optioned to Double-A Corpus Christi in July — he would have gone to Triple-A, but Corpus Christi allowed him to be available for a quick return to Houston days later.
Although Feliz's four-seam fastball averaged 97.3 mph in July, per PITCHfx, he elevated the pitch far too often, leading to hard contact. According to FanGraphs, Feliz's fastball was well below average in 2017 after it was outstanding the year before.
"I'm not sure it's a decline as much as a bad couple weeks," Houston manager A.J. Hinch told reporters after Feliz's demotion in July. "His slider usage, he's got to figure out a breaking ball that works for him, that's more consistent. His fastball being up in the zone, he's got to be higher than high if he's going to challenge guys up in the zone."
When Feliz was at his best, he used a three-pitch mix of four-seam fastballs, sliders and changeups. However, he rarely threw the changeup during the second half of this past season, which made him far more predictable to opposing hitters.
The changeup — which many pitchers say is the most difficult pitch to implement because it's all about feel — was a project of Feliz's following 2016. It could act as an additional weapon to complement his slider, which batters only hit .167 against in 2016.
The thinking was that a third pitch would only make Feliz more effective, which would be quite helpful for the Astros. After all, Feliz was dynamic since he made his major league debut in May 2015 and showed he could potentially evolve into a starting pitcher.
Feliz has started 71 games in the minor leagues during his career, becoming Houston's No. 5 prospect, according to MLB.com in 2015. But he transitioned to the bullpen once he made his major league debut that season.
In 2016, his first full season with the Astros, Feliz had a 4.43 ERA with a 1.18 WHIP and a 8-1 record in 65 innings. Amid that impressive run — which included Feliz allowing only three earned runs in nearly two months — Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said there was still the possibility Feliz could transition back to the rotation.
"Clearly, he could be a good reliever, is a good reliever right now," Luhnow said in June 2016. "I think he still has a good chance to be a dominant starter because of how good his stuff is and how he's able to repeat it over multiple innings. So, 'TBD' on what his ultimate role ends up being."
But after being a dependable bullpen option for Hinch for the first two months of 2017, Feliz regressed. He finished with a 5.63 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and a below-average ERA+. His ground-ball percentage also dipped 11 percent from the previous season.
It's become clear that Feliz's future is in the bullpen, but will the Pirates be able to help him recover? Some metrics show bode well for a rebound — his xFIP-, which takes into account the league and ballpark, was 74, which is well above average.
He'll add to a bullpen that was left thin after the Pirates lost Juan Nicasio and Tony Watson last season. Rather than spending in the free-agent market, Huntington addressed the need in the trades of Cole and McCutchen.
After all, relievers are now at a premium. The Rockies have invested $106 million on their bullpen this offseason, Nicasio received a two-year, $17 million contract from the Mariners and Brandon Morrow was given $34 million by the Cubs.
Feliz and Crick are controllable late-inning options who could bolster the bullpen long-term, complementing Felipe Rivero, who signed a four-year contract extension Thursday. Both pitchers will have to improve their command like Rivero did over the past year, but Huntington said it was important to address the need in a "creative" way.
"No one can just sustain on free agency alone, so to add power arms with ceiling to the backend of the bullpen to go along with the guys we already have there, potentially some of our young starters could play a meaningful role in the bullpen as they serve their apprenticeship until an opportunity opens up for them, so it is meaningful to be able to put quality, young talent everywhere on the field," Huntington said.
Analyzing all six additions:
Monday: Joe Musgrove, starting pitcher
Wednesday: Colin Moran, third baseman
Thursday: Kyle Crick, relief pitcher
Saturday: Bryan Reynolds, outfielder
Sunday: Jason Martin, outfielder
