Alexi Ogando Skipped by Rangers; Scott Feldman Gets the Start

In an effort to rest struggling starter Alexi Ogando, the Texas Rangers have decided to skip the right-hander’s next start in favor of Scott Feldman.

Ogando, in his first year as a starter with the Rangers, has had an overall solid season.  During his 26 starts and 154 innings pitched, Ogando has maintained an ERA and WHIP of 3.68 and 1.162.

But, Ogando has been shaky over his last several starts.  So far in the month of August, Ogando has been hit hard, leading to an ERA of 7.14.

In his previous 2 appearances, Ogando has managed only 6.2 innings while surrendering 9 earned runs on 11 hits.

With the playoffs approaching, the Rangers are hoping that, by skipping Ogando in the rotation, he is able to catch “his second wind”.

Ogando is still pitching with the same velocity as earlier in the year.  However, manager Ron Washington believes that while Ogando may be fine physically, the starter could use a mental break.

Texas’s decision was made a little easier due to the fact that Feldman is coming off of an outing in which he logged 6 shutout innings against the Tampa Bay Rays.  Feldman made the start in place of Matt Harrison, who was also given a breather last week.

Coming into this season, Feldman had started at least 22 games for the Rangers over the past 3 seasons.  But Feldman was slowed this year by offseason microfracture surgery on his right knee.  Feldman didn’t make his 2011 debut for the Rangers until the third week of July.

The 28 year old had his best season in 2009, when he pitched in 34 games (31 starts) with an ERA of 4.08 and a 1.281 WHIP over his 189.2 innings.

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