Tag Archives: Felix Hernandez

by | October 1, 2010 · 11:29 am

On Felix and the Season Finale

As you’ve probably heard by now, Felix will not take the mound in the Mariners’ season finale on Sunday.  After having one of the best seasons, as a pitcher, in Mariner history management has decided to shut him down a start early because of the amount of innings he’s already thrown this season.  I have two thoughts on this and I’ll keep it short.

My first thought is that our management gets it.  They see that downside of Felix making this final start outweighs the upside.  They get that Felix is more important to next season and the future than he is right now.  They understand that they have the best young pitcher in baseball and they are willing to lose a game in this lost season to decrease the chance that their best player gets hurt.  Would Felix have gotten hurt if he started?  No, probably not.  He was just as likely to get hurt last start against Texas as he would be this one, but still it’s not worth risking your ace.  You might think that this is common sense but I wonder if our prior GM’s would have got this.

On the other hand, I think it’s a shame.  Obviously, Felix wants to go out there and pitch one more game.  I think he’s earned the right to do that.  The King has just put up the two best consecutive years of pitching in organizational history, and if he wants to go out there, gosh, dang it, he should go out there.  Something tells me we’d see the best Felix possible on Sunday.  Our ace pitches his best when he’s on a big stage, unfortunately, the M’s are never on a big stage because they suck.  But Sunday, Felix would have been amped.  When Felix is amped it’s scary for the opponents.  I would have gone to the game on Sunday if Hernandez had been pitching just to give him a standing ovation, now I’ll probably just watch an inning or two from Matthew’s couch.  That’s the kind of pitcher Felix is.  The kind where you plan your schedule around seeing.  That’s the downside of him not pitching Sunday.

So, we’ll see you in February, Felix, when you report to Spring Training.  Then I’ll see you in April on opening day when you accept your Cy Young in front of 45,000 people at Safeco who don’t appreciate you enough.  I hope you get a standing ovation sometime on Sunday, somehow.  You deserve that.  I’ll be sure to give you a proper thank you sometime soon on here but, for now, this will do. See you in a couple months, King.

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by | September 23, 2010 · 2:14 pm

Felix will win the Cy Young

So Felix Hernandez goes 8 innings, gives up 2 hits, one run, a HR to league leader Jose Bautista. No shame in that. Problem is the Mariners continue their epic fail of a season and score exactly zero runs for Felix, yet again. I have never heard of a pitcher who gets less support from his teammates. The man continually goes out there week after week, throws quality game after quality game, never complains except when they pull him early, and plays with fire and intensity. Felix is my hero.

Will he win the Cy Young? He will. I guarantee it. The sympathy vote. Enough national writers know about how terrible the Mariners offense is, today was a prime example. If Felix plays for the Yankess he has 23 wins right now, maybe more, and is literally the king of NYC. It’s impressive how he can get himself up for games that mean nothing and considering the Mariners have been playing meaningless games since April, it’s amazing. Statistically it’s an easy choice, the win-loss record that may be his downfall, but pitchers have almost no control over that. Every category he has control over he is dominating.

Could Seattle be home to a Cy Young winner with a sub .500 record, and an NFL division winner with the same? Could happen. Only in Seattle.

-Joe

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by | July 17, 2010 · 12:44 pm

The Rebuilding Process, Year 3

A couple weeks ago I wrote about Years 1 and 2 of the rebuilding process the Mariners are in, orchestrated by Jack Zduriencik. With year 2 nearing completion, let’s look ahead to year 3 of rebuild mode.

Following this 2010 season, the Mariners will likely find themselves less ahead of schedule than what had been anticipated going into this season. The 85 wins in 2009 will be followed up with something like 65-70 wins. The Mariners do not have much money coming off the books, and their best player from 2009, Cliff Lee, is wearing a Texas uniform at the moment. In some ways, things may look bleak for the Mariners after this season. However, looking again at the big picture of rebuilding in 3-4 years, I think the positives still outweigh the negatives because of the strengthened farm system, the lack of bad contracts, and a strong nucleus that are all signed (Ichiro, Felix, Smoak, Guti).

Rewind with me again to November 2008. The Mariners were a mess, kind of like the Seahawks are today, and similar to Husky football after the Willingham era concluded. In each case, our team needed to blow things up and rebuild. This happens in sports, and typically, rebuilding takes 3-4 years. Of course the Yankees can do it in 1 year, and the Royals or Pirates need about 10 years, but for a Seattle team in a good market, 3-4 years is about the norm. This season it appeared the M’s might be able to take advantage of a weakened division and some savvy trades, and take the shortcut from rebuilder to contender in just 12 months. But 2010 has not panned out, and while it looks like the M’s are going to have to start over again once this year ends, the reality is the foundation for rebuilding was laid a year ago, and Seattle is finishing year 2 of a 3-4 year rebuilding process.

In his “Wait ‘Til Next Year” series, Matthew recently broke down each position, and forecasted the roster heading into next season. Certainly a common theme in these posts is the uncertainty at multiple positions, but despite the question marks, the M’s will continue building around a solid group that will surely include Felix, Ichiro, Ackley, Gutierrez, Figgins, Saunders, Smoak, Pineda, Vargas and Fister. Others from the current roster will be back next year, and some will not, and additions will need to be made, either via trade, free agency, or growth in the farm system. Given how difficult it is to predict trades, let’s look at the unrestricted free agent crop for 2011, and specifically, free agents that may be realistic targets for the Mariners, give their needs. Yes, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Derek Jeter may hit free agency, but again, this list only includes realistic targets, at positions the M’s may have an interest.
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by | July 13, 2010 · 2:00 pm

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

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by | May 31, 2010 · 12:26 pm

Mariners Weekend Recap — 5/29-5/30

Some games feel bigger than the one W or L that they represent on the schedule. When the M’s win in dramatic fashion on a Saturday night in front of 40,000 at Safeco, it seems odd that that win means just as much as a 10 am weekday win against Kansas City, in front of 11,000 fans. Likewise, a loss like yesterday kind of feels like 10 losses, rather than just one. The fashion in which the Mariners blew a 7-2 lead in the 5th inning yesterday, although not surprising based on how this year has gone, left me feeling frustration that should be reserved for only the most painful, playoff losses; not a regular season game in May.

I should be talking about a Mariners team that is miraculously just 5 games out of first place today. The M’s should have won yesterday, and should have won Saturday. The streak of horrible weekend games should have come to a halt, but alas, the M’s lost on Saturday and Sunday, providing further proof that while good teams find ways to win games, Seattle finds ways to lose them. Thus, they are not a good team. I have so many thoughts, opinions and observations from this weekend series because I saw every inning, and both games had so many layers. Rather than recap both games in typical style, I think I will just bullet point the good and bad that stood out.

The Depressing Stuff:

  • Ian Snell pitched well through 3 innings, but then I jinxed him by noticing this, and his control went haywire. I’m sure Snell will be gone at the end of the season, if not before then, and with Jack Wilson on the shelf and probably never returning to his old form, it’s probably accurate to say we lost that trade with the Pirates. I would have done it myself, and the trade won’t set the organization back much, but Jeff Clement at least has some potential, whereas Snell and Wilson don’t appear to.
  • Felix pitched well enough to win on Saturday, 8+ innings of 1 run ball, but the M’s offense was MIA and Brandon League showed again an inability to keep the ball in the park when it matters most.
  • On Sunday, Jesus Colome and Kanekoa Texeira pitched the 5th and 6th innings, and despite yielding just 2 hits, neither pitcher had much control. Of the 40 pitches they threw, 25 were balls. 4 walks were issued, plus a catcher’s interference, and suddenly the Angels had scratched out 3 runs off 2 singles, and the score was 7-5 heading into the 7th. This felt like the turning point in the game.
  • Yesterday, David Aardsma entered the 9th with a 1 run lead. The odds of winning may have been 75%, but in reality, it felt like a 50/50 game at this point. Aardsma had Matsui struck out on a full count, but the ump called it a ball, which was a horrible call. Once Matsui walked, I felt things slipping away. Rivera proceeded to crush a ball that somehow stayed in the yard, but it felt like a foreshadow of things to come. A fluke infield hit followed, and the wheels were coming off. Kendrick then blasted a fastball (of course) the other way and the game was over. But back to why things never feel safe when David Aardsma enters the game…

    The fact is, Aardsma usually has decent control, but everyone knows he will throw a 93-96 mph fastball about 90% of the time. If that pitch is not located perfectly, it’s a meatball. There really isn’t any deception to Aardsma’s pitching. The hitters just have to sit dead red, make a nice swing, and hope the ball lands in a good spot. Effective closers need not have 3 great pitches, but if he chooses to throw 1 pitch 90% of the time, it had better be a great pitch. Aardsma’s fast ball is not a great pitch, especially if it is not properly located. Aardsma will continue to get hit well for this reason, and sometimes the ball stays in the park or he gets lucky with a ball hit right at someone, but a lot of time the outcome is what we witnessed yesterday. It’s just really frustrating, but really, who didn’t expect him to regress this year? His true colors are showing. Aardsma depends on location and luck, and often one or the other fails him. He seems like a really cool guy though, for what it’s worth.

  • Our 3rd base coach is awful. I talk to Andrew about this often, and yesterday’s send of Wilson was his worst of the year. Base coaches are like referees in that if no one is talking about him, he is probably doing a good job. We have talked about Mike Brumley way too much this year, thus, he is doing a bad job.
  • Saturday and Sunday has not been kind to the Mariners this year. Seattle is 3-13 in weekend games, including 6 straight Saturday losses, and currently the team has won just once in its past 13 weekend games. In their 13 losses, 6 have been walk-offs, and 9 have been the crushing loss type, whereby the M’s were either tied or leading in the 8th inning.
  • 9 times the M’s have given up a walk-off hit. Conversely, Seattle has just 1 walk-off hit this season.
  • The Mariners are 0-6 in extra inning games this year.
  • Only 3 teams in baseball have a worst record than the M’s.

    Do I enjoy digging up these stats? Actually, no. I don’t drink alcohol, but this team brings me closer each weekend!

    Positive notes, plus hero and goat after the jump Continue reading →

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    by | May 27, 2010 · 10:54 pm

    First Quarter Report Cards: Starting Rotation

    As Matthew looks ahead to next year in his series, I’m going to look back at the first quarter of the season.  We’re a few games past the quarter point but this seems to be an appropriate time to look back on who has done what.  We’ll start with the starting rotation because that’s the least depressing thing.  Grades after the jump!

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    by | May 14, 2010 · 10:14 am

    Mariners Game Recap – 5/13 – Worst loss so far?

    Well, well, well, how did I draw this game recap? I wanted it of course, Felix on the mound against the worst team in the league, this was an air-tight opportunity to see a great pitcher dominate and the Mariners win. Up until the bottom of the 8th, the M’s had it, and then it happened. League has been solid all year, but he blew up. Base hits, walks, home runs, it was a bloodbath. Then the M’s put two guys on in the 9th, Josh Wilson at 2nd base, Ichiro rips a base hit to left field, and Mike Brumley, as he is want to do, sends Wilson. Patterson makes a perfect throw, and Wilson is gunned down to end the game. I don’t blame Brumley for sending Wilson, do you really think Figgins is capable of getting a hit to drive him in? He looked terrible all day going 0-3 with 2 K’s. Here are some of observations:

    • Michael Saunders is coming into his own and establishing himself as a legit option in left field. Dan and I agree that Saunders should in left, Bradley at DH when he comes back. Saunders’ at bat in the 5th was a sight to behold fouling pitch after pitch off before hitting a single to right to score Ichiro.
    • Ichiro is “quietly” batting .348 with 10 stolen bases and a top 15 OBP. He is, yet again, having an all-star season. I wonder if people still want Figgins leading off?
    • Felix had a nice bounce back game dominating Baltimore. That was good to see. I feel Wak should have left him in there into the 8th, but hindsight is 20/20. This is Baltimore, you would expect our bullpen to shut down one of the worst teams in the league.

    Overall this game was a heart-breaker. For my money the worst loss of the year. It’s too bad, a lot of good happened. Let’s hope The Fist stops the bleeding and yet again gives the Mariners hitters a chance to win.

    -Joe

    (Forgot the hero and goat: Hero – Michael Saunders. Goat – Brandon League.)

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    by | May 3, 2010 · 12:57 pm

    A Tale of Two Miserable Weekends…and some ridiculous stats!

    I didn’t think things could get more painful than watching the Mariners give up 3 late game homeruns on route to being swept last weekend in Chicago. All 3 games were 1 run losses, and I remember thinking the M’s should have legitimately taken 2 of 3 in that series. Despite the frustration, those losses were a product of a few hiccups, albeit in consecutive games, by our usually solid bullpen. There wasn’t too much analysis required, and while it sucked to have them happen in a row, that’s baseball. We moved on.

    This past weekend, however, had many more layers of dreadfulness. To condense this mess, I’ve bulleted 5 events that were pretty unbelievable (not in a good way), and another 5 RIDICULOUS facts that may require reading with a puke bucket by your side…

    1. Sweeney’s double play: When a walk, sac fly, base hit, or really anything past the infield would have won the game, Mike swung at the 1st pitch from Darren O’Day, a slider low and away, and ended the bases loaded threat in the bottom of the 10th on Friday. Although I must say, none of this surprised me.
    2. Byrnes whiffed bunt: This oddity captured the short Eric Byrnes era well. With the bases juiced just one inning after Sweeney failed in the same situation, Wak called on Byrnes to just make contact on a bunt attempt. I liked the call because asking Byrnes to not strike out or pop it up to an infielder is a tall task. Still, he failed…and then struck out for good measure.
    3. Bradley’s blown pop up: Many say Milton just gave up on this play, while some argue the sun got in his eyes. Regardless, this ball needed to be caught, because it allowed 2 runs to score with 2 outs after Felix had fought back from bases loaded and none out.
    4. Aardsma’s blown save: For the 2nd consecutive game following 8 dazzling innings by “Can’t buy a break Fister,” Aardsma surrendered a lead-off walk, then after a stolen base and a base hit, the game was tied, the save was blown, and Fister was given another no decision. I’m scared every time Aardsma enters the game and starts firing fastballs. This past week reminded me why I have this fear, despite his league leading 8 saves.
    5. 2 passed balls in 1 inning by Rob Johnson: Perhaps the previous events are explainable, but this one is not. Andrew touched on “Hips” and his lack of catching in his recap from yesterday’s game, so I won’t ramble. This tweet from Dave Cameron pretty well sums it up-

      “Rob Johnson had as many passed balls in 1 inning yesterday as every non-Mariner AL team has all season.”

    What is especially disappointing about all this is that if ANY one of these scenarios hadn’t happened, the M’s would likely have won the game. But it all happened, and as the wheels came off, it was like watching a bad horror film that started off decent, turned frustratingly unrealistic, and ended up humorous. The snowball of unfortunate events that overcame this team could not be stopped, and this team was coming up with new ways to blow games.

    And now, grab your bucket… Continue reading →

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