Neftali Feliz Injury: UCL Torn, Tommy John Surgery Likely

Neftali Feliz was making the long, hard journey from closer to starting pitcher this spring, and while he was wild during his brief time as a starter, he was effective. He was pulled from the rotation in May, though, because of an elbow strain. The strain was a sprain, and the sprain was a tear, so Neftali will have some surgery, I fear.

Neftali Feliz, as suspected after he was scratched on Sunday, has tear in ulnar collateral ligament. WIll have Tommy John surgery shortly.

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) July 31, 2012

Feliz was rehabbing in Double-A Frisco for the Rangers, but he was pulled from Sunday's start with discomfort. He'll likely miss most of 2013, too.

The Rangers have already made a move anticipating that he would not be back, trading for Ryan Dempster, but there's a chance that Feliz would have been in the bullpen if he came back. The Rangers will have to make do with Joe Nathan, Mike Adams, Koji Uehara, Alexi Ogando, Robbie Ross, and Mark Lowe. The horror. The horror.

Rangers' Neftali Feliz Begins Rehab Assignnment

Rangers righthander Neftali Feliz has been out of action for two months in what was eventually diagnosed as a UCL sprain. Those are scary words, because it isn’t far from “UCL sprain” to “torn UCL” to “Tommy John surgery”.

However, Feliz apparently doesn’t have to worry about the latter two, not yet, at least; he’s begun a rehab assignment. Richard Durrett:

Texas Rangers right-hander Neftali Feliz pitched two innings Monday in his first rehab start at Double-A Frisco, allowing an unearned run and one hit with two walks and four strikeouts.

Feliz said he felt good and was pleased with his velocity — his fastball sat between 92-95 mph, but did touch 96 on the stadium radar gun twice — and the fact that he had better command in the second inning after a wobbly first.

“The first thing is to be healthy,” Feliz said through an interpreter. “I’m trying to be ready to help the team as soon as I can.”

Feliz is expected to rejoin the Rangers’ rotation when he returns, so he’ll have to go longer than just a couple of innings. He’ll probably have to make three or four more starts, just as he would in spring training, to get properly stretched out.

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Neftali Feliz Out Several Weeks With Inflamed Elbow

Neftali Feliz isn't new to starting, but he's kind of new to starting, having taken a break to serve as the Texas Rangers' closer for a while. As a starter, Feliz was just Monday placed on the disabled list with elbow discomfort. That's cause for concern - you never want to see a young pitcher end up with something that might be significant.

So this is kind of good news:

Feliz said an MRI on Monday showed no tear in the elbow but just inflammation.

Feliz doesn't have a torn ligament, or at least nobody believes he has a torn ligament. Inflammation isn't nothing, but it's a better issue than what the issue could've been, so the treatment now is rest. Feliz won't do anything for nearly a month, at which point if he's feeling better he'll ramp up the activity. Feliz could be out through and possibly beyond the All-Star break, but the Rangers are deep in arms, so they're better equipped to deal with this than most teams would be.

Through seven starts and one relief appearance, Feliz owns 23 walks and 37 strikeouts. Scott Feldman is probably going to keep his rotation slot warm.

Neftali Feliz Injury: Elbow Discomfort Puts Rangers Starter On Disabled List

Rangers starting pitcher Neftali Feliz has developed some elbow problems, so the team has put him on the disabled list and recalled Yoshinori Tateyama.