Seattle Mariners: Felix Hernandez Expects to Make Next Start After Groin Issue

Groin tightness forced Felix Hernandez from his first outing of 2017 after five innings, but the Seattle Mariners ace is confident he won’t miss a start. Will his team prefer to play it safe?

The Seattle Mariners didn’t get off to the start they hoped for on Opening Day, suffering a 3-0 shutout loss at the hands of the division rival Astros in Houston. To make matters worse, their longtime ace Felix Hernandez was forced to leave the game with an apparent injury after five innings.

King Felix wasn’t exactly having a dominant outing, allowing two runs on five hits over the five frames. The scoring came via a pair of solo homers off the bats of George Springer and Carlos Correa. Nevertheless, Hernandez had racked up six strikeouts with no walks and tossed only 65 pitches before getting the early hook. So his removal clearly wasn’t performance-related.

According to Greg Johns of MLB.com, Hernandez exited the game after experiencing tightness in his right groin. It looked like the right-hander may have tweaked the muscle while covering first base on a grounder in the fourth inning. Mariners manager Scott Servais and the head athletic trainer checked on Hernandez, but he remained in the game. He would record four more outs before calling it a night.

After the game, Hernandez told reporters that he felt alright and didn’t believe his groin would prove a major issue. When asked if he would make his next scheduled start on Saturday against the Angels in Anaheim, he replied, “Oh yeah, for sure. I’ll be there.” Per Johns, Servais echoed that sentiment.

While it’s good to hear him optimistic following something of a scare, it remains to be seen if the King will actually make that next outing. This early in the season, the M’s might decide to take it easy and give him a few extra days to recover, making sure he’s 100 percent ready to go.

At this early juncture, they can afford that. You never want to sideline your number-one starter, but if it means the difference between missing one start and being out of commission for an extended period, it’s best to err of the side of caution. Seattle will probably see how Hernandez feels over the remainder of the week.

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After eight consecutive seasons of 200 or more innings (and 10 straight years of making at least 30 starts), Felix missed some time last year with a calf strain suffered under the regrettable circumstances of celebrating a home run. He was limited to 153.1 frames over 25 outings, and the rest of his numbers were decidedly below his usual high standards: 3.82 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 1.88 K/BB ratio.

Hernandez, who turns 31 in a few days, is hoping that 2017 is a bounce-back season for him. If the Mariners are to reach the playoffs, they’ll need him to pitch more like his vintage self. Yesterday was Hernandez’s ninth consecutive Opening Day start – the longest active streak in the major leagues – and everyone knows what he means to Seattle as the leader of their staff.

The righty has been learning to pitch with diminishing velocity in recent years, and had been doing quite a good job of it until 2015. After posting an uncharacteristic 3.47 ERA (109 ERA+) in 2011, he produced a 2.73 mark (136 ERA+) over the next three seasons, culminating in a league-leading 2.14 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in 2015.

In the past two campaigns he’s managed a 3.65 ERA (107 ERA+), calling into question just how good he’ll be moving into his 30s. Fellow American League ace Justin Verlander wouldn’t be a bad guy to emulate in that regard.

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The Mariners already have lefty Drew Smyly on the shelf for up to eight weeks, so they don’t really need another injury to their rotation. They’ll hope Hernandez’s gut feeling is correct and he won’t skip a beat.

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