Thank you God for this opportunity! #Blessed pic.twitter.com/DAJ9z8wIXY

— Neftali Feliz (@NefFeliz) July 11, 2015

Detroit’s bullpen hasn’t always been the best, and while the rotation has had its struggles this year, the bullpen has been much improved. The team has a reliable closer in Joakim Soria and dependable relievers in Alex Wilson, Al Alburquerque and Blaine Hardy. With Bruce Rondon still searching for consistency, the team made a move to bolster the ‘pen, signing former Texas closer Neftali Feliz. Feliz should successfully fill the role Soria struggled in last season. That role would essentially be back-up closer/eighth inning setup man.  

The #Tigers today have agreed to terms with RHP Neftali Feliz and he will join the club today in Minnesota.

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) July 11, 2015

All three of Wilson, Alburquerque and Hardy are having better seasons, but none have the extensive closing experience that Feliz does. Additionally, Feliz has much more experience serving as set-up reliever than Soria did, which will help him succeed.

Disregarding this season’s numbers with Texas (which may be an outlier), Feliz has been nothing but outstanding as a Major League reliever. The ex-Ranger’s numbers from ’09 to ’14 are as follows—

198 Games, 142 Games Finished

241.2 Innings Pitched.

226 Strikeouts

2.53 ERA

87 Saves

If he continues to pitch like he did in Texas and in his Detroit debut (one shutout innings, minimum of three batters faced, one strikeout, good usage of his off-speed offerings in addition to his fastball), then the Tigers’ bullpen will be in good hands, not just for the rest of the season, but for the foreseeable future.

All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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