When the Yankees signed Pedro Feliciano over the winter, they were hoping for the strong effort he used to give the Mets in every performance.
The Yankees will have to wait at least a year for that, because it looks like Feliciano is done before he ever threw a pitch for the Yankees in 2011.
It was announced on Friday from an MRI that Feliciano has a torn capsule in his left shoulder, which will likely require arthroscopic surgery and a year of rehab, according to ESPN’s Mike Mazzeo.
Feliciano will get a second opinion from world famous surgeon Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Alabama on Monday.
The Yankees signed Feliciano to a two-year deal for $8 million in the winter to be one of three potential left-handers in the bullpen for the Yankees.
Feliciano is now out for the season, Damaso Marte is out until the summer, which leaves Boone Logan as the lone lefty in the Yankees bullpen.
According to YES’s Jack Curry, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman will look around for bullpen help, but as of right now, the market is very thin.
Last week, the Yankees already placed Luis Ayala on the DL with an injury and have brought up Hector Noesi from the minors.
Most of the bullpen duties will fall back onto Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson, Rafael Soriano and Boone Logan with Marte and Ayala on the DL and Feliciano now likely out for the season.
The Yankees have even had starters Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia come out of the bullpen this season, and with Phil Hughes struggling with a lack of velocity, Kevin Millwood may be the next veteran coming up for the Yankees.
The loss of Feliciano is a tough one, especially since he did not get to throw a single pitch in the regular season for the Yankees. But you have to hope a year of rehab will bring Feliciano back and stronger.
You also have to wonder about the comments Cashman made earlier this month, saying the Mets abused Feliciano when he pitched for them, making 86, 88 and 92 relief appearances over the last three seasons.
Feliciano disagreed that he was overused, but felt hurt when Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen said that one of the reasons they didn’t bring him back was because of the amount of innings pitched.
The injury to Feliciano was characterized by Cashman as the one Chien-Ming Wang had for the Yankees back in 2009, which ended his season and career with the Yankees.
Wang has yet to pitch in the majors since June of 2009 and continues to rehab his injury with the Washington Nationals.
Will Feliciano’s rehab take time to recover like Wang, or will he come back strong for the Yankees in 2012?
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