Mariners Analysis: Felix Hernandez’s Top 5 Performances

#5 – King Felix Dominates Oakland – August 10, 2010

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Like a fine wine, Hernandez got better with age. Already at the beginning of his peak years at the ripe age of 23, this would finally be the year that Hernandez would win the Cy Young award. In August of 2010, almost 5 years to the day of his first 10+ strikeout game, Hernandez would be at it again against the very team he had set a career-high strikeout total against back on that 2007 Opening Day. Yes, the Oakland Athletics were about to be the victim of a Felix firestorm that would set a new personal strikeout mark.

After Hernandez surrendered 3 of his 5 hits in the first inning, he picked himself up and mowed down players. Bouncing back through the next 7 innings he pitched Hernandez struck out 12 batters, walking just 1 and giving up two hits. Even as the game went on he never wavered; before he was taken out of the game in the 9th he had retired his last 10 batters, 5 via the strikeout.

Felix continued to work his way up the franchise lists as he grabbed his 66th win in the MVP-like outing as well as collecting his 975th K with the team. 3 outings later against the Boston Red Sox, Hernandez would become the 4th youngest pitcher to reach 1,000 K’s, a testament to his steady command.

Next: Felix's First Double-Digit Strikeout Game

#4 – First Double-Digit Strikeout Game – August 15, 2005

It only took Hernandez three games to have his first defining moment in the league. Felix took the mound against the then struggling Kansas City Royals in mid-August of 2005. They were just the opponent Hernandez was hoping for only a few weeks into his MLB career, and he took advantage of every batter along the way. Coming off his first shutout, which came against the Minnesota Twins the start before, the Venezuelan flamethrower wanted to outdo himself, and did he ever.

In the game versus the Royals, Hernandez struck out 11 batters through 8 innings of work, allowing only 3 hits and 1 earned run. More impressively, he controlled the game from beginning to end, striking out multiple batters in 4 innings and retiring the last 4 he faced in the 7th and 8th, bouncing back from allowing that 1 run off a fielder’s choice ground-out.

Not only was Hernandez consistently throwing mid-to-high 90’s fastballs, but he controlled his arsenal of pitches so well that out of the 28 batters he faced, he only walked 1 man. This was Hernandez’s first double-digit strikeout game of his career, and it was the second win of his career, it was also a loud message to the rest of the league that Felix Hernandez had arrived.

Next: Opening Day Gem against the A's

#3 – Opening Day Gem against the A’s – April 2, 2007

Coming into the 2007 season, Hernandez had already established himself as one of the hardest throwing pitchers in the game who also had had the ability to paint the corners at will. Although he did not have the magic touch every game in his sophomore year, Felix wasn’t going to let his third season get off to a bad start.

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It was Opening Day at Safeco Field and Hernandez was making the start facing the Mariners’ division rivals, the Oakland Athletics. Felix had already made history, becoming the youngest pitcher since Dwight Gooden in 1985 to start on Opening Day, but he was about to write another page in the record books by the end of the night.

Felix had a brilliant, balanced outing that saw him fan 12 batters, which Elias Sports Bureau said was the “majors’ first Opening Day pitcher to strike out at least 12 batters without allowing a run since Bob Gibson did it for the Cardinals in 1967”; that is quite an achievement. Hernandez weaved his way through 8 innings of shutout ball, only allowing 4 hits. This was Felix’s 27th win of his young career and after it was all said and done, his punch out total was now up to 265.

Next: The King K's A Career High Against Tampa Rays

#2- The King K’s a Career High Against Tampa Rays – June 8th, 2014

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2014 was a year of near misses for Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners. The team fought its way through the long 162-game season only to come up 1 game short of grabbing the final Ward Card spot (which ended up going to the Oakland Athletics). Worse yet, Hernandez was not handed his 2nd Cy Young by a measly 10 votes despite having arguably his best season as a professional- instead the award went to the Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians. However much was lost that year, Felix won over much of the baseball world with his consistently exceptional performances, none better than his 15 strikeout spectacle against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Down at Tropicana Field in Tampa Florida, Hernandez was feeling it. He had already pitched a perfect game versus the Rays in 2012, but still wasn’t satisfied, he wanted to inflict more Hernandez heat on his favorite foes. The four hits that were scattered against Felix could do no harm on a day where, in the first inning he started by mowing down 2 batters; a precursor of what was to come.

Hernandez went on to strike out the side not once, or twice, but three times during his 7 innings of work. The King earned him one of the most unlikely no decisions in baseball history, but the Mariners won thankfully did want he game thanks to a late-inning rally. Even the Rays’ manager at the time, Joe Madden, tweeted out that this was a new level of Felix that he didn’t even see during “El Perfecto”. His ability to strike out more than half of the batters he faced brought his strikeout total to 1,809 and his win total stayed put at 118.

Next: El Perfecto

#1 – El Perfecto – August 15, 2012

Hernandez seems to love the hot summer months in Seattle. Maybe it reminds him of his childhood days in Venezuela or maybe the heat simply helps his mechanics. Whatever the answer may be, he would have another start, coincidentally on August 15th, that would set another Mariner record, and be remembered as the greatest show in team history.

The Tampa Bay Rays came to town on this day in 2012 with no intention to be embarrassed, but Felix would make sure that every batter would be sent back to the dugout wishing they hadn’t shown up. There were no blemishes in Hernandez’s game on this day as he faced the minimum 27 batters, fanning 12 of them on route to the Mariners’ first ever perfect game. Felix finished the rays off in style, striking out 5 of the last 6 batters, including the final out. This performance was by far the the most complete and flawless of his career, and with that he brought his win total up to 96 and his strikeout total to 1,404.

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Over the next 4 years Hernandez would wheel and deal, throwing batters out at a remarkable pace. Wins never came as easy for him but his tally slowly grew as the years went on all leading up to Friday’s monumental victory. Felix has set all of the most important Mariner records at the age of 30 with many years left in his tank. When it is all over for the King, the M’s record books will be littered with his name. If his career thus far is any indication, Hernandez will make sure that his name stays atop these lists for eternity as he continues to rack up unbelievable numbers.