Félix Hernández
Seattle Mariners — No. 34
Starting pitcher
Born: April 8, 1986 (1986-04-08) (age 23) Valencia, Venezuela
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 4, 2005 for the Seattle Mariners
Career statistics (through October 5, 2009)
Win-Loss	58-41
Earned run average	3.45
Strikeouts	810
Teams
Seattle Mariners (2005-present)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star selection (2009)

Félix Abraham Hernández (born April 8, 1986, in Valencia, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Seattle Mariners. He is 23 years of age.

Hernández throws a fastball that has been clocked as high as 100 mph, although he does not rely entirely on overpowering velocity. Instead he often uses a two-seam fastball, which comes in just a bit slower but with more movement and sink as it approaches the batter. His repertoire of pitches also includes a hard curve, a changeup, and a slider, all of which he can throw extremely well (he avoided the slider early in his career because the team was concerned it might injure his arm). When at his best, Hernández can induce a steady procession of groundball outs and strikeouts, with very few balls being hit in the air.^[1]

Like some other pitchers, Hernández wears a long-sleeved undershirt beneath his uniform jersey. While typically this is done to keep the pitcher's arm from getting chilled, Hernández wears it even in the hottest weather. For him it serves to keep perspiration from running down his arms and interfering with his hand's grip on the baseball.^[2]

[edit] Early life

[edit] Discovery as a prospect

Hernández was first spotted by Luis Fuenmayor, a part-time Mariners scout who saw him pitching at age 14 in a tournament near Maracaibo, Venezuela. Fuenmayor recommended Hernández to fellow scouts Pedro Avila and Emilio Carrasquel, who were impressed with the youngster who could already throw 94 mph. The Mariners continued to follow Hernández for over a year, but baseball rules prohibit teams from signing players to contracts until after they have turned 16.^[3]

After graduating from high school, Hernández finally agreed to his first professional contract. Mariners director of international operations Bob Engle signed Hernández as a nondrafted free agent on July 4, 2002. Hernández received a large signing bonus of $710,000, although he said the Mariners were not the highest bidder.^[4] Other teams trying to sign him included the New York Yankees, the Atlanta Braves, and the Houston Astros, with the Braves reportedly offering the most money.

One reason Hernández chose the Mariners is because his idol, fellow Venezuela pitcher Freddy García, was pitching for the team at the time. His agent, Wil Polidor, also attributed the decision to the influence of Hernández's father Felix Sr., a trucking business owner who handled negotiations for his son. Engle and the other Mariners scouts had cultivated a relationship with the family to explain their plans for Felix and earn the family's trust.^[5]

[edit] Professional career

[edit] Minor league career

The following year, Hernández came to the United States and began pitching in the Mariners' minor league system. In 2003, Hernández tore through Class-A with a 7-2 mark in Everett and Wisconsin. Returning to his native Venezuela to pitch in the winter league there, he held his own at 17 years of age against competition that included established major league players.

Hernández was named the Mariners' minor league pitcher of the year in 2004, a season that also saw him make an appearance in the Futures Game. He started with Inland Empire in the California League, before being promoted to Double-A San Antonio, and finished a combined 14-4 with a 2.95 ERA and 172 strikeouts in 149 1/3 innings pitched.

At the beginning of in 2005, Baseball America listed him as the No. 1 pitching prospect in baseball and No. 2 overall behind Joe Mauer. Hernández continued his success in 2005 with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers in the Pacific Coast League, posting a 9-4 record with a league-leading 2.25 ERA and 100 strikeouts in just 88 innings. He was selected for the Triple-A All-Star Game but did not participate as he spent a month on the disabled list with shoulder bursitis. He was also named PCL Rookie of the Year and Pitcher of the Year.

[edit] Major league debut, 2005

Soon after returning from his injury, Hernández was called up to the major leagues by the Mariners. He made his debut on August 4, 2005, in a 3-1 loss in a road game against the Detroit Tigers. At 19 years, 118 days, he was the youngest pitcher to appear in the major leagues since José Rijo in 1984.^[6] Hernández earned his first major league win in his next outing on August 9, 2005, pitching eight shutout innings in a 1-0 victory at home over the Minnesota Twins. Over his first several starts, he registered a streak of 112 batters faced before he allowed his first extra-base hit, a double by Jermaine Dye of the Chicago White Sox.

In 12 starts, Hernández posted a 4-4 record with 77 strikeouts and a 2.67 ERA. With 84 1-3 innings pitched, he exhausted his rookie eligibility. After the season, he became the focus of a disagreement over the possibility of his pitching in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Although Hernández was placed on a provisional roster by his native Venezuela, the Mariners objected, citing his earlier injury and expressing concern about the stress on his arm from adding this competition to the demands of a full season in the major leagues at such a young age. Their appeal to the WBC technical committee was eventually upheld.

When he arrived in the major leagues, Hernández was given uniform number 59. In 2006, he switched to number 34, the same number Freddy García (since traded to the Chicago White Sox, and is now back with the team) had worn as a Mariner.

[edit] First full season, 2006

For his first full year in the major leagues, Hernández arrived in spring training out of shape and had his preparation for the season interrupted by shin splints. He recovered in time to begin the season in the starting rotation, where he often struggled, but occasionally showed flashes of the potential that had generated such hype. His achievements included a few more personal milestones. He threw his first career complete game on June 11, beating the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by a score of 6-2.

On August 28, once more against the Angels, Hernández registered his first shutout, needing only 95 pitches and allowing five hits while picking up four strikeouts. The game, which lasted only 1 hour, 51 minutes, was the shortest in the history of Safeco Field.

Concerned about avoiding possible injury to their young pitcher, the Mariners declared that they would limit the number of innings Hernández pitched to 200 (counting both the regular season and spring training). This required them to skip his turn in the rotation a couple times as the season went on, after the Mariners fell out of contention. To allow him to make one last start at the end of the year, the team decided to raise the limit to 205. His 191 regular-season innings were still the most on the team, and he finished 12-14 with a 4.52 ERA. His 12 victories and 176 strikeouts also led the Mariner pitching staff. He also threw the fastest fastball of all major league starters in 2006, averaging 95.2 miles per hour.[1]

During the offseason, Hernández returned to his parents' home in a modest Valencia neighborhood, while awaiting completion of a house for himself, his girlfriend and daughter. At the team's insistence, he did not pitch in the Venezuelan winter league, unlike his older brother Moises, a pitching prospect trying to crack the majors with the Atlanta Braves^[7]. A Seattle Times profile of his life in Venezuela, with its relaxed daily routine, raised eyebrows among those who remained concerned about his conditioning.^[8] The team later explained that he had been specifically instructed to rest for two weeks after the season. He then picked up a workout regimen, including an improved diet, daily running, and regular weight training, to lose about 20 pounds. This put Hernández in much better physical condition upon his return to the United States in January, when he began a throwing program in advance of spring training.^[9]

[edit] 2007 season

Based on his improved condition and a successful spring training, the Mariners indicated that in 2007 they would no longer limit the number of innings Hernández could pitch, focusing instead on pitch counts to avoid overuse. Hernández won the honor of being named the team's Opening Day starter. He became the youngest pitcher chosen for this assignment since Dwight Gooden in 1985. He pitched eight innings of a 4-0 victory over the Oakland A's, allowing three hits and two walks while setting a career high with 12 strikeouts.

Hernández thrust himself into the national spotlight with his next start on April 11 against the Boston Red Sox, a much-hyped duel with Japanese import Daisuke Matsuzaka, who was making his home debut at Fenway Park. Hernández lived up to his end and upstaged the matchup of Matsuzaka pitching to his countryman, Ichiro Suzuki, by hurling no-hit ball for seven innings, finishing with a one-hit, complete game shutout in a 3-0 victory.^[10]

During the first inning of his next start against Minnesota he was removed from the game because of increasing tightness in his right elbow, especially when throwing his slider. After undergoing an MRI exam that night, he was examined the next day and was diagnosed with a strained flexor-pronator muscle in his forearm and was placed on the disabled list. Two planned returns were put off as the team took a cautious approach in bringing him back, although it opted not to send him to the minor leagues for a rehabilitation assignment. Instead he was activated on May 15 and kept on a reduced pitch count initially.

Upon his return, Hernández initially battled to regain the form he had flashed in those first two starts of the year. Hernández finished the season with a 14-7 record. His victory over the New York Yankees on September 3, in his first appearance at Yankee Stadium, stopped a nine-game Mariner losing streak, but was not enough to keep the team from falling out of playoff contention. His 3.92 ERA for the season was the best among the team's starters, and he again led the Mariners in strikeouts with 165. He again threw the fastest fastball of all major league starters in 2007, averaging 95.6 miles per hour.[2]

[edit] 2008 season

Prior to the start of spring training, the Mariners and Hernandez were rumored to be in negotiations for a long-term contract that would buy out Hernandez's arbitration years.^[11] Hernandez would be eligible for free agency after the 2011 season.

Hernandez showed up to spring training in his best shape yet. On June 17, Hernandez became the thirteenth AL pitcher ever to throw an "immaculate inning" (striking out the side on the minimum nine pitches).

On June 23, In his only plate appearance of the season, Hernandez hit his first major league home run, a grand slam, off Johan Santana of the New York Mets.^[12] Felix became the first American League pitcher to hit a grand slam since Cleveland's Steve Dunning hit one on May 11, 1971, and was the first to do so since Interleague play and the DH rule began. It was also the first home run ever hit by a Mariners pitcher. Later on in the same game, Felix injured his ankle and had to leave the ballgame and was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left ankle.

Hernandez finished the season with a 9-11 record posting 3.45 ERA and 175 Strikeouts. He also threw the fastest fastball of all AL starters in 2008, averaging 94.6 miles per hour.[3]

[edit] 2009 season

In January, Hernandez avoided arbitration and agreed to a one-year, $3.8 million deal.^[13] Just a few months later, he represented his native Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. In his first outing, he pitched four innings in relief, surrendering only one hit while not allowing a run. In his next game, Hernandez shut out Puerto Rico over 4.2 innings. Hernandez then flew to spring training to join the Seattle Mariners, where he was named the Opening Day starter.

Hernandez got off to a fast start, starting the season with a 4-0 record, only to fall cold in May, going 1-3. After a particularly sloppy loss against the Anaheim Angels, manager Don Wakamatsu publicly called him out for not "stepping up" as an ace. Hernandez would go on to lose just two games during the rest of the year.

On June 19 against San Diego, Hernandez threw a complete game, two-hit shutout against the Padres. This was his first complete game of the season and one of his best starts of his career. His sizzling performance in June (3-0 record, 0.93 ERA, 35 strikeouts) would earn him the AL Pitcher of the Month award for June, and on July 5, 2009, Hernandez was selected along with outfielder Ichiro Suzuki as the Mariners representatives in the 2009 MLB All Star Game.^[14] He made the first All-Star appearance of his career in the sixth inning, tossing a hitless inning.

By the All-Star break, Hernandez was 9-3 with a 2.53 ERA while striking out 122 batters in 124.2 innings pitched. At the age of 23 years old, he became one of the youngest and fastest pitchers to strikeout 600 batters since Dwight Gooden. He would reach 800 strikeouts by season's end.

During the 2009 season, Hernandez set career highs in almost every category including wins, strikeouts, innings pitched, and Earned Run Average. Hernandez finished the season 19-5 with a 2.49 ERA and 217 K's while in contention for the AL Cy Young Award.

[edit] See also

• List of Major League Baseball wins champions
• Pitchers who have struck out three batters on nine pitches

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Félix Hernández

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube