Who is Durbin Feltman?
Durbin Feltman has been the closer in all three years of his TCU tenure. At six-foot, 190 pounds, Feltman’s future is that of a closer due to his build. Feltman was recently named NCAA Third Team All-American, despite having limited save opportunities this year. He hails originally from Conroe, Texas and has posted an excellent stat line for 2018 over 18 appearances: 24 IP, 12 H, 2 ER, 6 BB, 43 K, .143 OBP, six saves. For his Horned Frogs career, Feltman has 32 saves in 88 2⁄3 innings, with a .163 OBP and 129 Ks against 32 walks.
How does Durbin Feltman rank?
MLB Pipeline: 70th
Baseball America: 88th
Perfect Game: 84th
What is Feltman’s game?
According to MLB Pipeline, “Feltman’s velocity jumped in the spring of his freshman year at TCU and he now operates at 95-97 mph and peaks at 99 with some running life. His power slider gives him a second well above-average pitch at times, arriving in the mid-80s with some depth. He even can mix in a decent changeup on occasion. Because Feltman lacks size and features effort in his delivery, he’s purely a reliever. Wiry strong and durable, he has taken a step forward with his control and command this year. Intelligent and competitive on the mound, he projects as a possible setup man or closer.”
According to Baseball Draft Report, “Feltman has dominated for three years at one of the best programs in the country while flirting with triple-digit velocity (91-96 FB, 98-99 peak) with a nasty above-average power breaking ball (84-87) that flashes plus.”
What does Feltman look like?
Here’s a video of Feltman found in Perfect Game:
Why should the White Sox draft him?
Durbin’s by far the hardest thrower now available among collegiate pitchers, and he’d join an already impressive list of future closers (or setup men) in the Sox system: Zack Burdi, Ian Hamilton, Tyler Johnson, Thyago Vieira, Jace Fry and Aaron Bummer, just to name a few. The Sox have shown this year how ugly a leaking bullpen can be, and this future bullpen could be as potentially successful as the Indians and Yankees from recent history.
Why wouldn’t the White Sox draft him?
There are a lot of other viable options on the board by the time the Sox make their pick in the third round: prep hurlers Kumar Rocker, Adam Kloffenstein and Cole Wilcox if the Sox can convince any of them to sign, prep OF Mike Siani, RHP Trey Riley from Logan CC, collegiate pitchers Adam Hill, Connor Pilkington, Triston Beck and Matt Mercer (not to mention Triston Beck and Blaine Knight who was profiled earlier here on South Side Sox).
Also, if the Sox are looking at collegiate pitchers, they may prefer starting pitchers.