Mariners 25-Man Ultimate Preview: Roster-Projected Starting Pitchers

SP- Felix Hernandez

IP- 205   W- 17   L- 8   ERA- 3.32   WHIP- 1.23   K-182   WAR- 3.8

Six-time all-star. Cy Young award winner. Five times he’s been voted in top 10 for Cy Young Award race. Felix is only one year removed from an All-Star Appearance, finishing top 7 for the Cy Young award, and having a 4.4 WAR. Yet, all we seem to hear is that Felix is no longer the ace he once was. His velocity is down, and his career is on a downward spiral.

So the question is, which Felix are we going to see this year? The Felix of last year or the Felix who posted his worst year statistically since 2006.

Truthfully, as much as I hate to say it, I don’t think we will ever see the dominant Felix Hernandez again. The Felix who struck out over 200 batters for 6 straight years. The Felix who made batters look absolutely foolish.

The innings just took too much of a toll on him. From 2009 to 2015 Felix averaged about 228 innings a year. And he never had an extensive injury until last year. That’s both miraculous and scary.

Coming off of an injury, and all those innings pitched, it’s hard to imagine Felix returning to a Cy Young form.

However, I don’t think that means he won’t be an All-Star or the best pitcher on our team. Felix doesn’t need to be a top 5 pitcher in baseball to be valuable to the Mariners. As long as he stays consistent, and adapts to the fact that his fastball isn’t what it used to be he will be fine.

Just last week on Team Venezuela when he pitched against the USA, he posted a line which I think we should be expecting to see throughout the season. He threw 5 innings of shutout baseball, with only 3 strikeouts.

However, the most important thing from that start is that he walked nobody which is something Felix struggled with mightily last year.

If Felix can adapt to being a pitcher less reliant on speed, I think we will see another All-Star worthy season, and a pitcher capable of leading our pitching staff.