Seattle Mariners All-Decade Team: Starting Pitcher

We have reached the end of our journey to name the best player at each position for the Mariners between the years of 2010-2019. Today, we name our pitcher.

So we all know who would be getting the ball for the Mariners in our All-Decade Team. There is really only one candidate. But for the final time, let’s just review our self-imposed parameters for inclusion on our All-Decade Team.

First, it only takes one game played in a Mariners uniform at the position to be eligible for this list. However, only the numbers accumulated by that player with the Mariners will be considered in our analysis. So, stacking a few quality seasons is almost always going to be worth more than 2 good months.

Second, while our focus is primarily on the statistical side of the game, we do allow other factors to enter our discussion, such as general fan “favoritness” and memorable moments. We heavily slant towards the stats, but at least twice in our series, the two factors mentioned above have made the difference between candidates.

Thankfully, our starting pitcher is somebody who checks every box imaginable in our process, so let’s not waste any more time.

Seattle Mariners All-Decade Team Starting Pitcher: Felix Hernandez

I mean, duh. Of course, this position belongs to King Felix Hernandez. Sure, the last 3 seasons were hard to watch but it doesn’t erase the first 7 years of brilliance that we all got to witness from The King.

Between 2010-2019, Felix made 280 starts, posting a 3.40 ERA, over 1824.2 innings, along with 1714 strikeouts, a 3.52 FIP, a 114 ERA+, a 1.17 WHIP, 18 complete games, and 8 shut outs. Oh, and did I mention a Perfect Game? The only one in franchise history?

Felix was even better from 2010-2015, posting a 2.89 ERA, a 1.10 WHIP, and 1332 strikeouts over 1357 innings, including a 2.97 FIP, and a 130 ERA+. He made 5 All-Star teams in the decade, won the 2010 Cy Young Award (and was robbed in 2009), and finished Top 10 in Cy Young Voting 5 times, finishing second for the second time in his career in 2014.

Felix was nothing short of a hall of fame pitcher for over half a decade and despite how it finished out, he is perhaps the most beloved Mariner in franchise history. Frankly, the discussion really begins with who finished second.

Felix Hernandez is the best pitcher in franchise history and will be remembered as such when he decides to hang up his cleats. And he deserves every ounce of credit for that.

So that’ll wrap up our series on the Mariners All-Decade Team. For the record, if we chose to do a reliever, we would have handed that “honor” to Edwin Diaz for his historic 2018 season. So overall, the final All-Mariners 2010s team looks like this:

• C Mike Zunino
• 1B Logan Morrison
• 2B Robinson Cano
• 3B Kyle Seager
• SS Jean Segura
• LF Ben Gamel
• CF Franklin Gutierrez
• RF Mitch Haniger
• DH Nelson Cruz
• SP Felix Hernandez
• RP Edwin Diaz

As difficult as the decade was, this isn’t a bad squad. It is unfortunate that the talent of the decade couldn’t find a way to sneak into the playoffs, but fans were still given a handful of memorable moments and some really fun teams in the 2010s.

Hopefully the 2020s will treat Mariners fans a little kinder. It may get off to a rough start, but brighter days are on the horizon and just maybe, the 20’s will be roaring for your Seattle Mariners.