Mariners legend Félix Hernández has a stronger Hall of Fame case in his 2nd year

With the utmost genuine respect to Jamie Moyer, when it comes to the best pitcher in Mariners history it's a straight battle between Félix Hernández and Randy Johnson. It really does seem like a case of 1A and 1B, with plenty of reasons to pick either "King Félix" or "Big Unit" and feel good about your choice.

In the end, the edge arguably goes to Hernández due in part to just having the longer career in Seattle, contributing to him holding plenty of team records. Among other things, he's ranked first with a 49.9 bWAR, 169 wins and 2,524 strikeouts, as well as tied-first with a 3.42 ERA.

For everything Hernández achieved in Seattle however, Johnson has the one thing which he's still hoping for: a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame. And whereas the five-time Cy Young winner was inducted in his first year of eligibility in 2015, it's going to be a tougher proposition for the only Mariner to ever pitch a perfect game and with no guarantee it will even come to fruition.

Having said this, there is still a viable path for Hernández to earn the ultimate individual accolade a professional baseball player can receive, with him now having a better chance in his second year on the voting ballot. Last year was more about just remaining on the ballot with the minimum required five percent, which he achieved quite handily by finishing with 81 votes for 20.6 percent.

Jon Morosi expects a jump in voting for Félix Hernández

As to why Hernández has a stronger chance in his second year of eligibility compared to his first, MLB Network's Jon Morosi previously explained why during an appearance on Seattle Sports with Dave Wyman and Bob Stelton at the beginning of this year. At the time, Morosi said:

"There’s not as many of these classic cases of ace pitchers like CC (Sabathia) that we’re going to have coming on the ballot. Really, there’s none. Cole Hamels is the top starter coming on next, and I think Félix has a much stronger case.”"

Jon Morosi

As Morosi alluded to, what Hernández now stands to benefit from is scarcity, with him still seventh among pitchers since 2005 with his 49.9 bWAR. Of the six pitchers who are ahead of him, the only one who is Hall of Fame-eligible right now is the aforementioned Hamels.

Even devoid of context, Hernández does objectively have a solid case for Cooperstown. His resume includes one Cy Young Award, two ERA titles and six All-Star selections, while his perfect game is one of only 24 in Major League history.

One of the (many) things which stood out about Ichiro Suzuki's career and subsequent induction into the Hall of Fame last year, is that he opened the door and set the standard for Japanese players in the majors. As such it seems pertinent to note that Hernández leads all Venezuelan-born pitchers in starts, innings, wins and strikeouts, although it remains to be seen how much this helps his case.

Félix Hernández almost succeeded despite the Mariners

Arguably the biggest thing which went against Hernández not getting even more recognition during his career is that he often didn't play on very good Mariners teams, with him never going to the playoffs. Yet this can actually be used as more fuel for just how good he truly was, with him having a comparable peak to a certain John Smoltz, who made it to the Hall of Fame helped by playing on a consistent and loaded contender in Atlanta.

Another significant calling card which can help Hernández's case is that he was the very definition of durable, with his 1,388.1 innings pitched by the time he was 25 easily the most of any pitcher this century. Further, during a Major League career which lasted between 2005 and 2019, he was first among all Major League starters, with 96 starts of eight-plus innings.

Finally, on some level it feels like Hernández came into the league right when the ace starting pitcher began to go extinct. Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke lasted longer, but maybe there's a case to be made that "King Félix" walked so they could run.