King Felix is Shining Bright This Spring
Prior to the start of Spring Training, the Atlanta Braves made a very under-the-radar move. That move came when the team officially announced that it had come to terms with former Seattle Mariners starting pitcher, Felix Hernandez.
Hernandez, who is heading into his age 34 season, signed a non-roster deal with the Braves in January. The deal gave Hernandez an opportunity to attend the Braves Spring Training camp and potentially make the team by having a good showing. In total, the deal was worth approximately $1 million dollars.
For the Braves, they took a flier on Hernandez in hopes that he would give the team’s starting pitchers competition in camp. Last season, down the stretch the Atlanta Braves were missing that veteran presence in their rotation. As such, Atlanta knew it had to bring in veterans this offseason. Besides Felix Hernandez, the other veteran signing involved left-hander Cole Hamels on a one-year, $18 million dollar deal.
King’s Court Legacy Ends in Seattle
Before signing with the Braves, Felix Hernandez was a prominent part of the Seattle Mariners organization. Hernandez built up his legacy in the city of Seattle and cemented that legacy among the entire Mariners fanbase. One example of that legacy was with Kings Court at Safeco Field now T-Mobile Park.
Hernandez originally made his official MLB debut in August of 2005 with the Mariners organization. In total, Hernandez spent 15 seasons with the organization posting a 3.42 ERA over 419 games in that span.
Of those 15 seasons, Hernandez most notable one occurred in 2010. That was the season when Hernandez won the American League Cy Young Award and faced a career-high 1,001 batters. During the 2010 regular season over 34 games, Hernandez posted a 2.27 ERA with an 8.4 K/9 rate. At that moment, the Mariners knew they had their ace of the future.
Hernandez continued to be a very good pitcher until the 2017 regular season. At that point, Hernandez started dealing with inflammation in his right shoulder. Later on that year, Felix Hernandez dealt with right bicep tendinitis and lower back tightness which also plagued him come the 2018 regular season. The injuries continued heading into last season as Hernandez missed a month at the start of the season with a right shoulder strain. Once the end of July rolled around, Hernandez was placed on the 60-day Disabled List with the same injury.
Redemption Opportunity in Atlanta
Once the free agency period rolled around last season, Felix Hernandez officially elected free agency. Thus, that ended the career and legacy that Hernandez left behind with the Seattle Mariners organization. However, now comes a new opportunity for redemption with a new franchise in the Atlanta Braves.
To this point, Felix Hernandez has made a very clear case to make the Atlanta Braves Opening Day starting rotation. Through four starts this spring, Hernandez has posted a 1.98 ERA over 13.2 innings of work. Despite being a small sample size, it’s potentially a very encouraging sign for the 34-year old right-hander.
Given that Cole Hamels was shutdown for three-weeks at the beginning of Spring Training, that boosts the chance of Hernandez making the Opening Day starting rotation even more. Hamels has been ruled out indefinitely meaning that he will miss Opening Day.
Final Thoughts
For someone who has been pitching in Major League Baseball since the young age of 19, that could be very good news for the Braves young stable of starting pitchers. Hernandez is full of knowledge and information about how to pitch effectively at the big league level. As a result, Hernandez can pass that knowledge onto the Atlanta Braves young starting pitchers such as Mike Soroka, Max Fried, and Mike Foltynewicz.
For a young Atlanta Braves team and starting rotation, that veteran leadership and knowledge is invaluable. For Felix Hernandez, this could be the opportunity to start afresh and a true redemption opportunity with a new franchise in an entirely different part of the country.
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