Chicago Cubs expect a solid performance from Scott Feldman – MLB News
As the Chicago Cubs signed free agent Scott Feldman on Tuesday, November 27, the move seems to have generated a mild debate. It mainly is about the right knee surgery that he had the past year, missing the first half of the season.
Secondly, he had a record of 6-11 in 29 outings. Feldman held an apparently unimpressive 5.09 ERA. Nonetheless, the Texas Rangers declining him the 2013 option prompted the pitcher to sign a one-year deal with the Cubs.
For Jed Hoyer – the Chicago Cubs general manager, the pitcher accepted the contract largely because he has confidence in himself – fully capable of delivering what is expected of him. That confidence, therefore, will be key in shaping the future prospect for both the team and the pitcher.
"I think part of why he agreed to a one-year deal is that he has a lot of confidence in himself and felt like, 'Hey, I know I can pitch better than I did last year and I can potentially use that as a springboard,'" Hoyer said. "He showed a lot of confidence in wanting a one-year deal.”
A quick look at his last year’s numbers might not bring to fore an impressive record. However, for Jed Hoyer, there is more to what is on the surface.
He said, "I think last year, if you look inside his numbers, the numbers were not what he probably hoped, but they were pretty misleading. If you look at his ratios and different underlying numbers, he's one of the most unlucky pitchers in the game last year.”
From the rough starts to shutout games, Feldman’s performance has varied. That which remains ultimately advantageous for the Cubs in the long run is that Feldman has the experience of having relief appearances along with the starts.
If he does not succeed in the rotation, which the Cubs hope will not be the case, he might be used in the bullpen. It was this reason that Hoyer also pointed out that the Cubs would not stop looking for talent.
For a team that is in re-building phase, nonetheless, Feldman promises a great deal of success considering his experience.
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