Bernardo Fallas has an interesting article on new 3B1 Pedro Feliz.
And just by glancing at the stat sheet — Feliz's .970 fielding percentage at the hot corner over the past three seasons ranks third best in the majors over that span — Astros' brass is confident that, when teamed with new shortstop Tommy Manzella, he offers an instant upgrade on the left side of the infield.
Mills:
“We want to be able to give guys like Pedro Feliz and Kaz Matsui a day off here and there. You got guys like Keppinger and Blum who are very professional players and to be able to have those guys fill in and give those guys a breather, that's nice to have...
He's arguably one of the best third basemen in the National League, if not the majors. Any time you can get a guy like that, such a solid defensive player and bring the experience that he has into this mix, it sure helps shore up that left side of the infield.”
Similar to how we all were thinking, Fallas thinks Feliz will bat 6th or 7th. If that's true, here's how your lineup may look:
1. Bourn
2. Matsui
3. Berkman
4. Lee
5. Pence
6. Feliz
7. Towles/Castro
8. Manzella
If it's Towles coming out as C1, could see him batting 6th, with Feliz batting 7th. If it's Castro, I could envision Mills flipping them to take some pressure off Castro in the #6 spot.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
