Mariners’ Felix Hernandez: ‘I’m not done; I’m still The King’
Mar 30, 2017, 12:58 PM | Updated: Mar 31, 2017, 2:53 pm
Felix Hernandez: "I think people doubted me. I had a bad year ... and people think I'm done." (710 ESPN Seattle)
(710 ESPN Seattle)
Felix Hernandez has likely never been as busy between seasons as he has been since the end of the 2016 campaign. Having a chip on your shoulder will do that.
Coming off his roughest year since assuming the role as the Mariners’ ace, the nearly 31-year-old Hernandez ramped up his offseason workout routine with a mysterious trainer named Iron Glenn, then added duties as Team Venezuela’s top pitcher in the World Baseball Classic to his usual spring training schedule with Seattle.
It’s easy to figure out what is driving Hernandez, as “Danny, Dave and Moore” found out from Mariners spring training in an interview Thursday on 710 ESPN Seattle.
“I think people doubted me,” he said. “I had a bad year, I was on the DL like two months, and they think I’m done. I’m not done; I’m still The King.”
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The King has been sending that message throughout the last month. There was his standout performance for Venezuela against Team USA, where he threw five scoreless innings. And in Cactus League play, he saw good results from putting into action a plan to use more of the upper half of the strike zone, posting a 2.77 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and .196 batting average against over 13 innings in four outings, the last of which was Tuesday.
Hernandez now his sights set on his ninth straight and 10th overall opening day start for the Mariners, which will be in Houston against the Astros on Monday.
You can hear the full interview with Hernandez embedded above.
