LAKELAND, Fla. -- Durbin Feltman, the Red Sox' third-round selection in last June's draft out of TCU, made his Red Sox debut a memorable one Thursday.
Entering the game for his first major league appearance since joining the organization last summer, Feltman pitched the bottom of the ninth and recorded two strikeouts before issuing a two-out talk to Gordon Beckham. But Feltman erased Beckham on the bases when he picked him off attempting to steal second for the final out of the game, resulting in a 4-4 tie with the Detroit Tigers.
"He didn't panic,'' said Alex Cora of the pickoff. "He stepped off (the rubber) and got the out.''
His fastball hit 96 mph and he also unveiled a wipeout slider.
"Coming in in the ninth inning, that's always cool,'' said Feltman. "That was quite the experience. My command was a little spotty, but it was fun to see how my stuff plays and get used to the smaller strike zone. It was a great experience. I definitely had some nervous energy going, but I just channeled that and it went well.''
Cora saw Feltman pitch Monday in a camp game on the back field and liked what he saw.
'The stuff was there'' said Cora. "You can see it. Everybody knows about him.''
Indeed, Feltman was advanced enough coming out of college that there was speculation that he might earn a call-up last Septembers, just months after he signed his first pro deal. Ultimately, that didn't happen out of fear that rushing him to the big leagues would impact his development.
"It's not that easy,'' cautioned Cora. "We went through that in '05 with Craig Hansen, a first-round choice of St. John's. "He was 'the' guy and it didn't turn out, so you've got to be very careful. This is still the big leagues. There's a big jump (from the lower minors to the big leagues) and there's a period of adjustment. (Hansen) didn't turn out the way the organization thought he was going to be.
"There's a lot of stories like that. Organizations make decisions not only based on stuff and talent -- (they also consider) their makeup, what they can handle, how they're going to bounce back from bad outings. All that stuff has to be taken into consideration.''
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