Felix

[Kernz]

If anyone has any interest in wanting to know what's up with Felix. Does not look good.... after this update, I'm 99% confident he will not pitch again this season and as a Mariner. May even his career. His shoulder is gone.

Truly a sad ending.

Félix had an MRI on his shoulder earlier this week after he pulled himself from a game with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers after throwing 31 pitches because something didn’t feel quite right.

Moore: It's fair to speculate if Félix has thrown last pitch for Mariners

This is his last year in the League.

 

[wazzu31]

My first thought was it was his way of just taking the year off with hopes of a comeback next year somewhere else and he didn't want to waste pitches for this team. No proof, just my guy feeling. I thought I read the MRI came back with no different than the original one. I 100% agree he might be done for the year.

Servais says the MRI showed nothing bad but seems to affirm that Felix has shoulder fatigue. Which I’ll try not to blame on the organization telling him throw more curveballs than at any point in his career.

 

[wazzu31]

This is his last year in the League.

Unless he goes Billy Chappel in his last start I think it is 99.9 certain he will be pitching in the big leagues somewhere next year. Hell with the Mariners staff now it isn’t out of the question they offer a 1 year deal because they won’t have enough guys to fill the rotation next year.

 

[PolarVortex]

It would be so Seattle Mariners if Felix signed a minor league with a team Tampa or Houston that has a knack for re-inventing pitchers, and reels off a nice 3-4 year run. It would be so predictably Marinerish.

 

[PolarVortex]

Unless he goes Billy Chappel in his last start I think it is 99.9 certain he will be pitching in the big leagues somewhere next year. Hell with the Mariners staff now it isn’t out of the question they offer a 1 year deal because they won’t have enough guys to fill the rotation next year.

Doesn't his contract have a clause that states that if he is on the IL for a larger portion of a season in the contract's duration, that the team has an option to bring him back for one year at a $1 million salary? (Not that Dipoto would take the option. He and Servais are done with Felix.)

 

[wazzu31]

Doesn't his contract have a clause that states that if he is on the IL for a larger portion of a season in the contract's duration, that the team has an option to bring him back for one year at a $1 million salary? (Not that Dipoto would take the option. He and Servais are done with Felix.)

I’ve never heard that so I’m not totally sure. If there is an option then it isn’t out of the question ownership might overrule Jerry.

 

[seahawksfan234]

It would be so Seattle Mariners if Felix signed a minor league with a team Tampa or Houston that has a knack for re-inventing pitchers, and reels off a nice 3-4 year run. It would be so predictably Marinerish.

For all of my frustration with his lack of willingness to adjust - which he seemingly did finally this year by using his curve more - with everything he has given this franchise I would be happy to see him reinvent himself and end his career on a good note.

For his sake I would prefer they keep him shelved and give him one last ceremonial start near the end of the season to send him off on a good note.

Pretty tragic that his career took a turn like this. It's sad to see a guy who at his prime was one of the best pitchers in baseball become one of the biggest liabilities on the mound four years after he finished second in Cy Young voting.

 

[seahawksfan234]

Doesn't his contract have a clause that states that if he is on the IL for a larger portion of a season in the contract's duration, that the team has an option to bring him back for one year at a $1 million salary? (Not that Dipoto would take the option. He and Servais are done with Felix.)

Per Baseball Reference:

$1m Team Option club may exercise 2020 option if Hernandez spends more than 130 consecutive days on disabled list with right elbow surgery or other procedure to repair right elbow injury.

 

[PolarVortex]

Per Baseball Reference:

$1m Team Option club may exercise 2020 option if Hernandez spends more than 130 consecutive days on disabled list with right elbow surgery or other procedure to repair right elbow injury.

If it is exclusive to the elbow then the option probably won't kick in. Oh well....

 

[seahawksfan234]

If it is exclusive to the elbow then the option probably won't kick in. Oh well....

I can't recall all of the injuries he has had, but even if it was the right elbow I'd be surprised to see the option exercised unless it was a symbolic gesture.

I hope he goes somewhere else and figures something out. It's a pretty poor ending to the career of a guy who was once so elite.

 

[SeattleCoug]

Tomorrow is the swan song for Felix as Mariner and maybe his career. It honestly feels kind of weird. Part of me wants to watch but at the same time I'm 90% sure he will get rocked by a good A's squad still competing for a playoff spot. Not sure I can stomach that but also feel like I need to at least make an effort to watch. We will see how I feel tommorrow

 

[cezero]

i'm not romanticizing anything about felix.

good luck to him wherever he goes, but it's hard to be sentimental about much since the team has never even made the postseason with him.

i know as well as anybody that his talent was wasted for years, and it was no fault of his own.

but he has been bad for a lot of years, and did little or nothing to adjust. change or die is a mantra so many HOF pitchers have gone by, but felix was stubborn, lazy, or plain incapable of it.

glad i got to see him throw a perfecto and glad he got a cy award. that's really pretty much it.

 

[SeattleCoug]

Yeah you arent wrong about any of that. I guess maybe the whole thing just feels awkward

It's tough to see this version of Felix playing anywhere after this. When you get to his age you have to want to keep playing and it doesnt seem like he does

 

[Duders]

I guess they're planning on quite a large "King's Court" area for Felix's last Mariner's game. I can't imagine him continuing to play with a different team next season, but I guess he probably doesn't want to retire just yet?? The only real issue I have about Felix is the fact that he got screwed playing for this organization by never having a post season opportunity. What a career he had at one point, only to see if fall apart due primarily with his ego getting in the way of not making the adjustments he needed to make. I guess Kings think their "shtuff" doesn't stink.

 

[wazzu31]

i'm not romanticizing anything about felix.

good luck to him wherever he goes, but it's hard to be sentimental about much since the team has never even made the postseason with him.

i know as well as anybody that his talent was wasted for years, and it was no fault of his own.

but he has been bad for a lot of years, and did little or nothing to adjust. change or die is a mantra so many HOF pitchers have gone by, but felix was stubborn, lazy, or plain incapable of it.

glad i got to see him throw a perfecto and glad he got a cy award. that's really pretty much it.

I hear except it’s hard to say he was stubborn or lazy. Incapable is the right word. He lost his fastball and then all of his pitches were the same speed. No matter how good a pitching coach or pitching guru is he cannot teach Justin Verlander to become Greg Maddux. Felix is right handed so he doesn’t have the luxury of going to the pen or being a spot rotational starter like the the only starter in modern baseball who lost his fastball and stayed viable on CC Sabathia. I definitely concede he was stubborn about analytics but when new age baseball stuff that hadn’t worked at any professional level met up with a Cy Young winning pitcher it isn’t exactly stubborn. It was Felix and the analytics going as though Felix was 2014 Felix. Slight change here or there, or more spin isn’t going to change that he threw one speed with his 4 plus pitches.

 

[cezero]

which is why i also had "incapable" on my list. also why used "or" and not "and". not sure why you're trying to argue with me because i agree with what you're saying.

change or die is a mantra so many HOF pitchers have gone by, but felix was stubborn, lazy, or plain incapable of it.

you made a very cogent argument for why felix isn't a hof pitcher.

forget 4 pitches. his success was almost entirely predicated on his change. when the fb slowed down, he honestly had nothing decent. it's sad to face that fact, but there it is.

 

[seahawksfan234]

Not gonna lie I did tear up last night watching the game. I have to admit it's partially due to the fact that it's really an end of an era. It's strange seeing a guy who was a superstar since I was in high school throw his last pitch for the Mariners.

I have to say unfortunately if I were a GM I wouldn't even take a flier on Felix unless he somehow shows something amazing in a workout. I only watched the last few innings he pitched but from what I noticed he struggled to even hit 90 mph on any of his pitches and didn't have very good control on his pitches.

 

[wazzu31]

which is why i also had "incapable" on my list. also why used "or" and not "and". not sure why you're trying to argue with me because i agree with what you're saying.



you made a very cogent argument for why felix isn't a hof pitcher.

forget 4 pitches. his success was almost entirely predicated on his change. when the fb slowed down, he honestly had nothing decent. it's sad to face that fact, but there it is.

Wasn’t arguing just rebutting one piece you said. It wasn’t necessarily directed at you I just feel that argument is semi unfair when it comes to Jerry’s regime.

Everyone thinks Edgar was the sabermetrics HOF candidate but Felix will be the big test. Statistically he was one of the best pitchers in baseball for nearly a decade much like how Edgar was one of the best hitters but the last few years of their careers drastically dropped their career averages. I don’t think he is HOF worthy but I also think he should have been able to waterboard the entire offense for his prime years.

You are correct about his change, and that is where I can agree with the lazy argument pre Jerry. He had his fastball so he never needed to evolve his changeup, curveball or his 2 seem fastball. He seemed like Junior with only relying on his talent and once his talent wasn’t what it was it was too late.

 

[wazzu31]

Not gonna lie I did tear up last night watching the game. I have to admit it's partially due to the fact that it's really an end of an era. It's strange seeing a guy who was a superstar since I was in high school throw his last pitch for the Mariners.

I have to say unfortunately if I were a GM I wouldn't even take a flier on Felix unless he somehow shows something amazing in a workout. I only watched the last few innings he pitched but from what I noticed he struggled to even hit 90 mph on any of his pitches and didn't have very good control on his pitches.

Felix is a prime example of how being good to the fans and the community makes you beloved. Ichiro was there for most of the bad times like Felix was as well but he isn’t ever mentioned really on the Mount Rushmore of great Mariners even though nearly all of his stats say he is probably right behind Junior.

 

[Kernz]

Not gonna lie I did tear up last night watching the game. I have to admit it's partially due to the fact that it's really an end of an era. It's strange seeing a guy who was a superstar since I was in high school throw his last pitch for the Mariners.

I have to say unfortunately if I were a GM I wouldn't even take a flier on Felix unless he somehow shows something amazing in a workout. I only watched the last few innings he pitched but from what I noticed he struggled to even hit 90 mph on any of his pitches and didn't have very good control on his pitches.

Yes, it was poignant for me as well. There was some emotion in me

It's time for a new adventure in his life.

Athletes all go through these stages. I hope he knows this.