Seattle Mariners: The Rise and Fall of King Felix Hernandez

In another sign of his unfortunate decline, the Seattle Mariners announced on Sunday that King Felix’s streak of consecutive Opening Day starts will end in 2019.

Once a 19-year-old phenom, Felix Hernandez (aka “King Felix”) of the Seattle Mariners is experiencing quite a fall from grace, so to speak.

Upon making his big league debut in 2005, Hernandez took the baseball world by storm, pitching to a 2.67 ERA and a sub-1 WHIP in 12 rookie starts. The Mariners had finally found their ace, something they lacked since trading Randy Johnson to Houston during the 1998 season.

“King Felix” would continue to improve with each season, reaching the apex of his career at the age of 28, where he posted a career-low 2.14 ERA, 0.915 WHIP, and 6.5 H/9. Not only that, he was the definition of consistency and stamina, starting in 30 or more games for 10 consecutive seasons while maxing out at 249.2 IP, something completely unheard of in today’s game.

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At the age of 30, however, Hernandez hit a wall of sorts. Since then, his era has increased with each season, from 3.82 to 4.36 to 5.55. His fastball velocity, once consistently in the mid 90’s, was now touching 90 MPH.

What’s more, once the definition of stamina and consistency, “King Felix” was now the poster child of injuries in baseball, missing time for a plethora of injuries. He went from averaging 206 IP in his first 11 big league seasons, to 132 IP in his last three.

Now, in the latest sign of decline, the Seattle Mariners organization acknowledged their lack of confidence in Hernandez. On Sunday, the Mariners announced that “King Felix” would not take the helm on Opening Day, snapping a streak of 10 consecutive Opening Day starts.

The decision comes after Hernandez allowed 6 runs in 3 innings of work against the Cleveland Indians in a Spring Training exhibition. Upon exiting the game, Hernandez’s spring ERA was a comical 15.95.

A somber “King Felix” took questions after the game, according to ESPN. When asked if he was upset about the team’s decision to end his Opening Day starts streak, all Hernandez could muster was “Yeah”.