Top-ranked Quad Cities prospect allows just one run and six hits with 14 strikeouts in 13 innings to earn honor
DAVENPORT, Iowa. (August 11, 2014) - Quad Cities River Bandits right-handed pitcher Michael Feliz has been named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week for August 4-10. The top-ranked prospect on the Quad Cities roster, Feliz made two starts totaling 13 innings, giving up a run on six hits with no walks and 14 strikeouts. His eight-inning start Aug. 5 against Burlington was the longest by a River Bandit since Kyle Hald tossed a complete game on June 4, 2012, in a 6-2 win over Burlington.
Ranked in midseason by MLB.com as the Houston Astros' seventh-best prospect and No. 98 in all of baseball, Feliz is the first Quad Cities Pitcher of the Week since Boone Whiting won for Aug. 20-26, 2012. Feliz becomes the third River Bandit to win a weekly honor from the Midwest League this season, as shortstop Thomas Lindauer was the Player of the Week for April 21-27, and outfielder Ronnie Mitchell was the league's Player of the Week for May 26-June 1.
A native of Azua in the Dominican Republic, Feliz helped snap a six-game Quad Cities losing streak for the second time in three weeks by firing eight shutout innings with a season-high nine strikeouts Tuesday in a 4-0 victory over Burlington. The 6-foot-4-inch, 228-pound right-hander followed that performance Sunday by limiting the Beloit Snappers to a run on three hits with four strikeouts in five innings to help the River Bandits earn a series split with a 6-1 win.
Signed by the Astros as a non-drafted free agent on May 19, 2010, Feliz spent the 2010 season with the Dominican Summer League Astros before pitching for the Gulf Coast League (GCL) Astros in 2011. He split the 2012 season with the GCL Astros and Rookie-level Greeneville Astros before pitching with Short Season Class A Tri-City last season.
In his first Midwest League season, Feliz is 8-4 with a 3.70 ERA. He has tossed 82 2/3 innings over 21 games, including 15 starts, fanning a team-high 94 batters against 31 walks with only 71 hits allowed and a .231 opponents' batting average. He pitched for the World Team in the 2014 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game on July 13 at Target Field in Minneapolis.
UP NEXT: A Fireworks Friday kicks off the next homestand, with a 7 p.m. game on City of Davenport Night and Global Cultural Night presented by Tyson Fresh Meats. When gates open at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, the first 1,500 fans receive a Trevor Rosenthal Bobblehead courtesy of DHCU and FOX18. Sunday's 1:15 p.m. game is a Celebration and Appreciation of Senator Tom Harkin for 40 years of service with a bobblehead giveaway for the first 1,000 fans when gates open at noon. Tickets are available at www.riverbandits.com.
