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| "I'm the king of the mound! Whoooo!" 1 |
*In 2010, Armando Galarraga, then of the Detroit Tigers, retired the first 26 Cleveland Indians batters faced, stepped on first base before the 27th batter did (verified by instant replay), then retired the 28th batter. The 27th batter was incorrectly called safe, a fact disputed by nobody after the fact, including the umpire who made the erroneous call.
BECON OF HOPE
Hernandez (11-5, 2.60 ERA, 174 Ks) is the ace in the rotation for the abysmal, last place Seattle Mariners. The Mariners, for several years running have been a talented pitcher’s worst nightmare of a franchise for which to play. They have a very good pitching staff – starters, set up men, and closers – including Jason Vargas (13-8, 3.56 ERA) and Kevin Millwood (4-10, 4.28 ERA). They have wet noodles and rubber hoses for bats. Their best qualifying (3.1 PA/GP) hitter is Jesus Montero, hitting .266 with 12 homers and 46 RBIs on the season. Montero would be in the bottom of the order on most teams if in the starting lineup at all.
What does not kill you makes you stronger. The Mariners’ bats are so anemic that it cannot do anything but toughen up the starting pitchers. The least little mistake could cost the team the game and tack an “L” on to the starter’s record. This can only inevitably put downward pressure of the mistakes made by the pitching staff.
Yesterday, this frustrating negative turned into the ultimate positive for a pitcher. The Mariners defeated the Tampa Bay Rays, 1-0, yesterday. One run of support? No problem for the King. He just won’t allow anyone on base, at all. For a franchise that offers very little to cheer about, Hernandez’s pitching dates are always a reason to pay attention to the M's.
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| How many teams have a pitcher who could allow any of his teammates to legitimately shout, "GAME OVER, MAN!" after scoring a single run in the third inning? 3 |
FUTURE IN PINSTRIPES?
Hernandez is under contract with the Mariners through 2014. With yet another brilliant season under his belt, another clunker of a season for the Mariners, and little hope in sight to strengthen the lineup in the near future, speculation has been rampant about the possibility of a trade to a contending team and/or the possibility of a team with deep pockets offering Hernandez a king’s ransom after his current deal is up.
The New York Yankees have been the kings of buying up elite free agents, particularly pitchers. There are teams with great farm systems (such as yesterday’s victimized Rays) who would love to have a stud like Hernandez and can beef up the Mariners roster with high potential future stars. However, Hernandez has made it clear that he likes Seattle and the Mariners, by all accounts in sports media, have every intention of offering King Felix as big a royal treasure room as it takes to keep him, long term.
BEST USE OF AN MLB ASSET?
Should Hernandez, one of the best in the game, remain in Seattle long term, it is my sincere hope that the M's reach deep into their pockets and put together an average lineup. Not “great”, “powerful”, or “elite”…just “average”. Hernandez would easily be a regular 20 game winner on a team with an average lineup. With average batters (or even “below average” like the Oakland Athletics), the Mariners would be in the thick of the playoff race. Otherwise, Hernandez will be relegated to serving up gems that few people will see on a team that will never have an impact on the pennant race in Major League Baseball.
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1) Image from http://online.wsj.com
2) Image from www.bleacherreport.com
3) Image from www.zimbio.com
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