Felix Gets Snubbed

I’ve been sitting around today listening to pre-game coverage of the all-star game.  I keep seeing the rosters pop up on the ESPN tracker and one name is missing, it’s Felix Hernandez.  Needless to say, I’m a little biased but let me go on.  Felix was initially left off of the roster when it came out and that didn’t seem that weird.  Cliff Lee had clearly been the Mariners’ best pitcher and Felix did have a few rough spots through the first month or two.  The King said it wasn’t a big deal that he was left off the squad but his true fans know otherwise.  Felix loves the personal stuff.  Yes, he wants to see his team win more than anything but he also wants to pick up all the awards and accolades possible along the way.  After Felix was left off the team, and right before, he’s gone on a tear.  Quite similar to last years season Felix has become absolutely dominant.  He’s thrown 3 complete games in his last 4 starts and his ERA has dropped below 3.00.

Two pitchers were added to the AL team the day after Felix’s complete game against the Yankees on Saturday.  For some reason, Girardi picked two guys other than Felix.  He said it was because Felix had thrown 126 pitches the night before and wasn’t added because of that.  His quote made it seem like he was doing the Mariners some big favor by not adding him to the team.  Yes, Felix has thrown too many pitches this year and probably needs a little break here but I don’t think it’s right to leave someone off the team because he threw too many pitches.  You could at least invite him and let him soak in the experience.  He could earn the all-star incentives that are most likely in his contract.  He could get his well-deserved cheer from the crowd.  He could show that the Mariners have one of the best young pitchers in baseball.  Instead he’s left to watch it.

Is this a big deal?  No, not really.  The all-star game isn’t the most exciting thing even if “this time it matters.”  But I keep hearing how the NL has a better pitching staff with more dominating names and I can’t help but think that wouldn’t be so true if the king would have been there.

Andrew