Will Brian Fuentes Best Neftali Feliz?

Well look at what we have here: As the season progresses, the Texas hotshots of Arlington have gassed their bullpen and it shows in the fact that their closer, Neftali Feliz, has been stinking to the point where his stats are now close to even with the Angels closer Brian Fuentes, the veteran who got it together recently and is on a roll.

The numbers do not lie: Feliz is allowing 6.66 H/9, Fuentes is below him at 6.44 - and while Fuentes has a higher walk ratio, you can note that those hits Feliz has been giving up lately are what have been hurting the Rangers. For all of Neftali's heat, Fuentes' 9.41 K/9 is just a bit behind Feliz averaging 9.62. Aftr blowing the game Wednesday night, Neftali's ERA is 3.7 while Brian has seen his dip to 3.22.

But here is the best part: Feliz is getting shaky and unreliable for a team that historically wilts down the stretch. He has thrown 48.2 innings. Fuentes has only thrown 36.1 innings so far and knows how to manage his strength late in the season while the whole thing is all pretty new to Kid Feliz.

So as Feliz falls apart slowly and Fuentes gets it together, their numbers meet, decline to incline, and if their teams follow suit, you will have a coke-snorter and the reigning AL Manager of the Year to compare bullpen usage patterns in your future analysis.