For six straight seasons now Felix Hernandez has baffled hitters with his amazing Curve, a great Change up and an outstanding Slider. Last year was a season to remember for Venezuela born right-hander. He had a microscopic 2.27 ERA in 34 starts last year. He was the type of pitcher that could give your team a chance to win anytime he was scheduled to pitch.
The question will be can Felix Hernandez have a repeat performance of what he did in 2010? I believe Hernandez will have another amazing season despite his ERA going up just a had. It is hard to imagine Felix improving on his 2.27 ERA but he should be able to improve on his record. Last year Felix Hernandez finished the season with a 13-12 record. That was the one stat that was mediocre but that was because of the Mariners offense and not his pitching.
If I could take a guess of what kind of numbers Felix Hernandez will put up this year it would go like this: Felix will go 16-6 with a 2.54 ERA a WHIP of 1.29 and will go over 200 innings pitched for the fourth consecutive year. So will he win the AL Cy Young award again this year?
Since 1967 there have been four repeat winners. Those four winners were Jim Palmer in 1975-76, Roger Clemens in 1986-87, Roger Clemens again in 1998 and 1999. Lastly, it was Pedro Martinez in 2000 and 2001.
If the Mariners offense is going to improve and it will because it can't get much worse, then Hernandez will end up with a better record. He has a lifetime record of 71-53. Despite his 71 wins over his short career, he has never had a 20 win season. That should continue this year. The Mariners offense will improve but it will be still below average compared to the rest of the teams. Therefore, it's hard to imagine him winning that many games. Remember, a pitchers record is not really in his control so he will be definitely have to get some run support if he will be a 20 game winner.
One thing that will be going for Felix is his other starting pitchers. If Erik Bedard and the other pitchers can stay healthy this year it will put less pressure on Felix to go our their every five days and give the bullpen a rest. If there are injuries then the AAA pitchers get called up and they can't go that deep into games because their younger. Then the bullpen gets used more then Eric Wedge wants to and feels the need to let Felix go as long as he can. This becomes a domino affect and he pitches way over 200 innings. If the rest of the rest of the starters can stay healthy, Felix will be able to not throw so many innings in the first part of the season and be more fresh towards the end of the season.
All in all, Felix Hernandez should expect another great season. It must of been a disappointment for him last year not to be selected as on All Star last year. I think he can expect an All Star appearance this year as well. Like I said earlier in the article, 16-6 is pretty reasonable. I have a feeling that his record will be between his record in 2009 (19-5) and 2010 (13-12).
Well, there you have it. Felix takes the mound tonight and will try to defend his AL Cy Young Award today. The game starts at 7:05 and is on TV on Roots Sports. Go Mariners.
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