Scott Feldman

by pedrophile on Mar 1, 2026 8:07 PM EST Comment 21 comments

Fastball

Throws it in the low to mid 90s. Typically 92-94
Tails down and in on RH hitters.
Consistent break
Solid command

Cutter

Throws it similar velocity to his fastball, maybe a touch less
Excellent late movement
Fangraphs had it as the 3rd best pitch in baseball, many scouts love it
Very consistent with it.
Combining the two pitches both with velocity and excellent movement and look identical until one breaks right the other left - this is a huge weapon for him

Slider

Hard downward movement
Very good chase pitch

Change

Much improved pitch
Nice movement, very similar to his fastball
Good separation velocity, around 12mph difference

Curve

I sometimes have trouble separating the curve and slider because of the downward movement
Good pitch, needs to use it more

History

Feldman was a decent reliever but I doubt too many saw him as a starter
He had an almost sidearm delivery
Breaking pitches were not that good but very good fastball
Two years ago his arm angle was raised a little and he worked on the cutter
Last year his arm angle raised even more. The cutter became a dominant pitch. The curve and slider gained a lot more depth. Even the change improved.

Future

Its hard to say how much he will improve. For those looking for a regression I dont see it
His tailing fastball and cutter combo is deadly. But its his change, curve, and slider that will determine how good he becomes.
I remember watching a game late in the season. He was dominant but too many pitches. The announcers mentioned if he used the fastball more he might go deep into the game. Inwardly I was crying. And the catcher called what they asked for and he got crushed for a 5spot. 2 games in a row this happened. For a guy throwing 70% fastball you cant up the usage. I hope he learned the lesson that as dominant as they can be he still needs to mix it up.

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haven't looked it up

But Feldman must throw the hardest cutter in baseball. He can get both the cutter and FB at the same speed which makes it tough on hitters. I like him a lot.

by uwbadger on Mar 1, 2026 8:51 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

looking it up probably wont help

it seems fangraphs are using Texas guns for his velocity and are about 2mph low.

by pedrophile on Mar 1, 2026 8:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

?

Fangraphs uses gameday pitch f/x data

by jar75 on Mar 1, 2026 9:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

gameday's gun was 1-2 mph low in texas

Plus it was off at various points in other parks last year as well. This speed difference also screwed up the pitch f/x numbers and therefore the pitch types it spit out.

by uwbadger on Mar 1, 2026 9:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Hmm maybe you're right

I just did a quick search with a pitch f/x tool. Feldman’s average 4 seam fastball in Texas was 90.5, outside of Texas it was 92.2.

by jar75 on Mar 1, 2026 10:19 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yep

I’ve read some reports that Arlington has the slowest gun.

The Cutter is becoming a very popular pitch in TX. Besides Feldman, Tommy Hunter also added it last year, Colby Lewis added it in Japan, and now Harden and McCarthy are toying with it. Apparently, Maddux and the Rangers feel the pitch will help neutralize lefties and slugging, both bugaboos when pitching in Arlington.

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by t ball on Mar 1, 2026 11:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I noticed the slow gun when I was watching Feliz's velocity

Consistently lower at home.. so I started watching everyone elses and almost every pitcher was a couple mph slower at home.. definitely a slow gun, good to see real data like pitch fx confirms it to some degree.

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by DSheppard on Mar 3, 2026 12:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It's about 2 MPH slower in Arlington than anywhere else...

nt…

"When Justin Upton faces Lincecum, I think Christ might appear in the heavens, and the world will end." -JakeFree

by JT12340 on Mar 3, 2026 1:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Great writeup pedrophile

Feldman was a nice surprise last year, he helped me win a fantasy league or two. The cutter certainly seems to be the latest “it” pitch huh? Man if Harden can master a cutter to go with everything else and he stays healthy…wow.

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by gatling on Mar 2, 2026 2:31 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

why

did it take so long

After all Texas gave up Danks who excelled after learning the cutter in Chicago. And they have an awesome HR park there as well. The white sox went exclusively cutter to counteract the power effect of their park. Why did it take Texas so long, and why is Coors waiting.

btw -for Harden it isnt just health. his stuff deteriorates a lot as he tires. he cant even throw bullpens in between games. his velocity gets into high 80s late in the season. is that really going to work in texas. at least he can warm up quick. but i really think he makes a huge splash before …

by pedrophile on Mar 2, 2026 11:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

interesting write-up

honestly, Feldman hadn’t been on my radar much at all, and i would have viewed his moderate success this past year as a fluke.

i realize you already say, “hard to say how much he will improve,” but do you see room for projection? what’s a good “best-case comp” down the road for him?

by bleedjaxblue on Mar 2, 2026 7:22 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Texas is tough

but I do see improvement this year. He is known as a very hard worker. And Maddux is an awesome pitching coach.

I wouldnt call it moderate success. His ERA was around 3 before the last month. Maybe it was tiring. I really think it was bad play calling.

Pudge was horrible when hitters had a chance to steal. This is a common flaw. Varitek is the worst pitch caller in baseball now. But at least Pudge really called a good game when he wasnt worried about throwing out a runner. They will miss him.

If you are in a counting league with Ks he wont be too valuable. But in a sim he is much more so. I love the controlled movement on his pitches. Tighten up his offspeed and he could be an ace. It just wont be with regular ace numbers.

by pedrophile on Mar 2, 2026 11:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

interesting

i too kind of figured on Feldman as a fluke last year…had no idea the cutter was that good.

by PrincetonCubs on Mar 2, 2026 9:28 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Agreed nice write up pedrophile

I like this guy as quite underrated fantasy wise. It’ll be interesting in spring training games to see his other pitches. Hopefully he’s spent some time With M. Maddux refining at least one of them during the offseason. He’s got a pretty potent lineup behind him so if he improves even moderately he could be in for an impressive season.

"Six of my best friends just walked into the booth . . .and they're all named Bud" -Harry Caray

by stevejeltz on Mar 2, 2026 10:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I thought Feldman had zero mlb future going into 2009

but he definitely won me over.. it was that 11K game vs the rays and listening to the away team announcers talk about how great his stuff was that night that finally convinced me.

Nice writeup.

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by DSheppard on Mar 3, 2026 12:07 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

When looking at Feldmans overall numbers from last year

Just keep in mind he started out in the bullpen (thank you Kris Benson :puke:) and was rocked pretty good. His ERA as a starter was still sub 4 for the entire season and spiked toward the end of the year after a really bad outing

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by bigsteve on Mar 3, 2026 12:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I can see the regression just because of the huge step forward he took.

That’s the reason I think it’s logical. I doubt it was a fluke, but there’s a justified historical cause for skepticism.

I personally expect a similar true performance, if a bit of regression in actual ERA.

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by philkid3 on Mar 4, 2026 4:11 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

FWIW

Scott Feldman’s SIERA was 4.59 last year—good for 89th among pitchers with at least 110 IP (an arbitrary amount to be sure). That ranks him right in between Mike Pelfrey and Zach Duke. As for starter vs. reliever, he logged 183 of his 189 2/3 innings as a starter.

He is a very interesting pitcher with some very good stuff, but he may have been a bit lucky last year by the looks of it. That said, there are time when a pitcher breaks out for a season and his components indicate that it was luck, but instead of a regression the following season, the components catch up to support the surface stats.

Texas sure has a stable of interesting arms for the next decade or so.

by nobodyinparticular on Mar 4, 2026 12:28 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I'll take a 4.50

in Arlington for about 190 innings, thank you very much. I think Feldman’s ERA might go up, but I see him still being a guy with about a 4.40-4.50 FIP.

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Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.

by t ball on Mar 4, 2026 2:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The home ballpark should have little to do with SIERA

The whole point of the statistic is to try to place pitchers on equal footing for better predictive results. Thus, Feldman as the 89th best pitcher should be considered as the 89th best pitcher, not anything better or anything worse because he plays in this ballpark or that ballpark.

by nobodyinparticular on Mar 4, 2026 3:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I realize what you were saying

I’m not ready to just use SIERA and call it a day, and I get the idea behind equal footing and all that. His FIP as a starter was 4.14 last year, 4.47 xFIP. I expect him to be around 4.50 for ERA in 2010. He’s only been a starter for two seasons, after changing his arm slot, and just added the cutter last year. I don’t see any reason to expect him to get worse, though I don’t expect him to get much better either. And he just turned 27.

His career BaBIP is .284 and his strand rate was reasonable. He was a little bit lucky, but it wasn’t a huge factor in his success. I think among those with qualifying innings he’ll look like a #2-#3 starter, and maybe more like a top 60-70 guy with your 110 innings cutoff.

Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.

by t ball on Mar 4, 2026 7:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs