Feliciano strikes out the side in first minor league rehab game

August 10, 2012 by Mike Axisa 35 Comments

In his first minor league rehab appearance with the Rookie Level GCL Yankees, veteran left-hander Pedro Feliciano struck out the side as part of a scoreless inning today. He allowed a double to a left-handed batter and issued a walk as well. No word on the pitch count or velocity, but I highly doubt he was throwing anything other than the low-to-mid-80s. He wasn’t exactly a hard-thrower to start with.

Feliciano has yet to throw a meaningful pitch for the Yankees since signing a two-year, $8M contract prior to last season. He had major shoulder surgery last September after trying to rehab the injury and is just now getting back into game action. He’s been throwing bullpens and live batting practice in recent weeks. Assuming he makes it through the rehab well — a massive assumption — we could actually see Feliciano in the big leagues when rosters expand in September. Maybe he has a 2009 Damaso Marte run in him. That would be sweet.

bonestock94

Holy crap, I completely forgot about his existence!
jsbrendog

if feliciano can pull a dumbasso fartface and be dominant for the playoffs only to ride off into baseball oblivion and never be heard from again that would be pretty crazy….the same situation all over again. what are the chances?
- Rainbow Connection (futurely Dummies Playing w Balls and/or RI$P FTW)
  
  why would you call a guy a dumbass for doing that?
Greg

Rather hear Jose Feliciano sing “Light My Fire” than worry about whether or not Pedro is going to be the 4th LOOGY in the pen.
Hoss

Remember when Cashman said that the Mets “abused” him? Wonder what he thinks Girardi is doing to Boone Logan et al that is any different.
- jsbrendog
  
  baseball-reference.com is your friend. try using it.
  
  feliciano had 86, 88, and 92 appearances in his 3 yrs with the mets. and he threw 53, 59, and 63 ip.
  
  boone may have 54 appearances already and be on pace to have one of those type of yrs in ip and appearances but he was far from abused his previous 2 yrs in NY with 51 and 64 games and 40 and 42 ip.
  
  for reference, scott proctor, everyone’s overuse posterchild:
  
  06 – 83 games 102 ip (one hundred and freaking 2!!!)
  07 – 83 games 86 ip
  - Hoss
    
    “boone may have 54 appearances already and be on pace to have one of those type of yrs in ip and appearances” You made my point. Since when did 3 become the magic number for abusive years?
    
    The other point was that if Cashman felt that he was “abused” why did he sign him?
    - Steve (different one)
      
      He’s on pace for 78 appearances. Feliciano averaged 88. 10 seems like a big difference.
  - Darren
    
    pwned
    - Slugger27
      
      no, not really.
  - Slugger27
    
    love that you completely ignore the innings he threw in the minors ( and by love i mean hate). in 2010, he had 65 appearances, not 51. the IP total was 61, right in line with feliciano’s totals…
Steve D Fl

8 mil down the toilet!
- Hoss
  
  Well, at least he did no harm. Retreads Nick Johnson and Javy Vasquez cost us twice that much as well as a whole bunch of games. Cashman is incredibly overrated.
  - jsbrendog
    
    how did nick johnson cost the yankees games in the 24 games he played?
    - YanksFanInBeantown
      
      Why are you using facts?
      
      …Cashman apologist!
      - jsbrendog
        
        sigh.
        
        Hoss
        
        You are right. Nick was a stud. He batted .167 in 24 games until he was, predictably, injured and spent the rest of the year on the DL. No problem, we had plenty of other left-handed hitting DH, high OBP guys waiting to fill his shoes… that’s why he was such a great signing. And a bargain at about $6 million…
  - jjyank
    
    ? Nick Johnson was cheaper, and Javy was not a “retread”. Dude was a top 5 Cy Young candidate the year before the trade. Just because he ended up bombing doesn’t mean he was a retread.
    - Hoss
      
      The knock on Johnson was his inability to stay healthy. Everyone knew it and the signing was rightly criticized by fans and the media for just that reason. Cashman was in love with his .400 OBP. That only works when he’s in the lineup.
      Javy failed once before in NY, and there was no reason to try the same failed experiment twice. Cashman doesn’t learn. When I heard that he was actually considering bringing Pavano back a few years ago when we needed a SP, I knew that he was, let’s say “challenged” in that area.
      - Robinson Tilapia
        
        He makes millions and you have a dumb screen name (as do I.)
      - jjyank
        
        Javy failed in half a season several years before the trade. Hardly a large and relevant sample to base trades on.
        
        Robinson Tilapia
        
        FWIW, I was never sold on that trade when it happened, no matter what Javy’s numbers were, but whatever. It happened. I can’t go back in time.
        
        They hoped for the best with Johnson as replacement for Matsui. Injury was certainly where it could have gone wrong, and it did. I don’t think anyone went into that not thinking it’d be a possibility.
        
        Hoss
        
        Cannot argue with you. And hindsight is 20/20…
        
        jjyank
        
        That’s fair. But there’s a giant line between not agreeing with a trade and saying “Cashman never learns and he’s challenged”.
        
        Hoss
        
        On the whole, I do not think that Cashman’s trades and signings have best utilized the talent and financial resources of the Yankee organization.
        
        jjyank
        
        Even Javy though, what did we give up that’s so terrible? Not only was Javy in the Cy Young discussion the year before, but his previous tour of duty in NY wasn’t all bad. 3.56 ERA in the first half (18 games). Yes, he imploded in the second half, but it was a smaller sample (14 games) and like 6 years removed from the trade.
        
        I think Cashman has done very well with trades on the whole. Pineda doesn’t look great now, but the book is hardly closed on that.
        
        Hoss
        
        It’s tough to analyze trades when players themselves can move afterwards via free agency. In that trade, the best performer yet has been Melky (after the year in Atlanta)! But the Yankees could have resigned him (A-Rod even recommended it to the organization). Logan was a good pick up, and the jury is still out on Vizcaino post-injury.
        Another piece of the equation is the opportunity cost of plugging Javy into the rotation for a year, with pretty lousy results. It wasn’t a good call.
        
        jjyank
        
        I don’t believe Melky counts. Once he was released by the Braves, his relevance to trade evaluations ended. Sure, the jury is out on Vizcaino still, but until he provides any value to the braves MLB team, it’s hard to call him a loss.
Robbie621

Does Girardi really need another situational reliever?
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  It’s not unusual to try to find the best possible match in the postseason in September. This is what led to existence of Royce Ring in pinstripes.
  - jjyank
    
    Oh man, I completely forgot he even existed.
Jamey

He’d get called up & Girardi’d use him against righties. “We’ve already got Booney & Rappy for loogy so I figured Felicy could use the work where he can get it.”
- Slugger27
  
  have you ever watched a girardi managed game? no way in hell he’d use him against righties. im sure he’d be perfectly fine w 3 loogys. your hypothetical quote (while obviously in jest) is so unrealistic im unable to get a cheap laugh.
  - Jamey
    
    “is so unrealistic im unable to get a cheap laugh” No kidding…
Robinson Tilapia

Signing fungible middle relievers to ridiculous contracts is an issue it seems every GM makes, not just Brian Cashman.

I’d spend about $1.50 on my middle relief corps, but I’m not a GM.

That being said, if he can give a few innings PLUS mop up the clubhouse every night, wash out the jock straps real well, and trim Sterling’s nose hair every night, maybe he’ll earn some of that contract.