A potential postseason start may be motivating Mariners’ Félix Hernández
Jun 26, 2018, 2:12 PM
Mariners RHP Félix Hernández has found his groove in the month of June. (AP)
(AP)
In Félix Hernández’s last five appearances, he has three quality starts and a 3.41 ERA. And if you leave out a three-inning, five-run outing against Tampa Bay on June 9, his ERA for the month of June is a tidy 2.08.
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The 32-year-old former Cy Young Award winner appears to be finding his groove for the Mariners, and with Seattle setting itself up nicely to end a 17-year playoff drought, there’s a chance the King will finally get a chance to make his postseason debut in his 14th season in the big leagues – a slim chance.
With the wild card situation being what it is right now – two wild card teams meet in a single elimination game, with the winner advancing to the division series – it’s very possible the Mariners could play in the postseason this year without Félix taking the mound. Jon Morosi of MLB.com and FOX Sports said that could make for a weird feeling in Seattle.
“I think he has got to get into a playoff game for the Mariners to feel like they have fully returned to the postseason,” Morosi said of Hernández to Dave Wyman and Jim Moore, filling in for Brock and Salk, on 710 ESPN Seattle (listen here). “If they get to the wild card game and (James) Paxton starts it and they lose, I certainly think they’ve ended the drought no question about it, but it would be a little unfulfilling.
“I want to see 34 on the mound in a playoff game at Safeco Field for me to feel like, alright, the Mariners have arrived back in the playoffs. … All of us who have had the pleasure of watching Felix pitch as long as we have, we want to see him on the mound in a playoff game.”
Morosi knows it’s more than fans of the game that want a Happy Félix Day in the postseason.
“Félix knows this, he’s smart, he knows what’s going on. He knows that to make sure that he’s part of that playoff run, he’s going to have to really make sure that he has a strong second half and pitches his way into consideration to pitch in either the wild card game or the Game 1 of a division series,” Morosi said. “I think he’s become newly motivated to figure out a new way to pitch … and I for one have really enjoyed watching him pitch these last several outings.”
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