MICHAEL FELIX

8/13/85; '06 2nd; Troy University
L/L; 5-11, 190

Level	W-L-Sv	G	GS	IP	H	BB	K	ERA	OAVG	OOBP	OSLG
2004 NCAA	4-4-0	18	15	61.2	51	41	50	4.52
2005 NCAA	0-2-0	7	5	14.1	23	20	12	11.93
2006 NCAA	9-4-4	28	8	101.2	85	49	134	3.45	.223
2006 A-	1-6-0	13	13	48.0	41	33	49	3.56	.236	*.362*	*.310*
2007 A	0-2-0	25	3	35.2	44	46	37	8.83	.289	*.466*	*.416*
2007 A-	2-1-0	19	0	25.2	25	23	31	5.26	.263	*.419*	*.349*

Felix started his college career at Auburn and was primarily an outfielder, but came on as a closer after transferring to Troy for 2006. His selection started a succession of picks on which the Pirates overdrafted players. Baseball America regards him as a prospective setup guy, which is a low ceiling for a second round pick. He throws mainly in the high 80s, reaching 93, and his out pitch is a late-breaking curve. He doesn't have much of a change and may not need it as a reliever. He's considered athletic and has been compared to Mike Hampton. At Williamsport in 2006 the Pirates used him as a starter, probably to get him more innings. He never went past five innings and usually came out sooner than that, often after just two or three innings. This may have been due to very cautious pitch counts or to the fact that he had a great deal of trouble throwing strikes, or both. He has good stuff, but the control problems were pretty severe. Oddly, LH batters hit .379 against him, although he faced very few of them.

Felix opened 2007 in the rotation at Hickory, but his season quickly turned into a disaster due to his inability to get the ball over the plate. The numbers speak for themselves. He was sent to the bullpen after just three terrible starts, then was demoted to State College when the NY-P season opened. Things never really improved; even in September, when he had an ERA of 3.00, he walked seven in six innings. He's clearly hard to hit when he's not just easing off in order to throw strikes. His GO/AO ratio in 2007 overall was 3.54 and he fanned over a batter an inning. The Pirates will try him at Hickory to start 2008.

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