Felix to Run the Table, go 32-0
Legends of the game, Dept.

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If Felix retired tomorrow, would you take his career over those of Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter and Dizzy Dean?

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Twenty years ago, we used to chat with STATS' Mike Mittleman about the difference between control and command.  "Control is the ability to throw strikes," Mike would argue.  "Command is the ability to locate the ball in the strike zone."

Fair enough ... but there was something else there, something elusive.  Greg Maddux did more than just locate the ball in the strike zone, right?  "Command" may address the idea of pitchability, or the idea of knowing when to challenge and when not to, or ...

At BJOL they've been discussing it a lot.  Bill emphasizes the idea of making an offspeed pitch break when you want it to.  If a curve ball starts its break at 30' and breaks down from shoulders to waist over that 30', it's going to be crushed.  But if it starts its break at 20' (from the hitter) and goes from letters to knees, that's going to be unhittable.

Then a reader quoted a GM saying, "Control is the ability to throw strikes; command is the ability to make the ball do what you want it to do."

Hmmmm ... :: taps chin ::

.......

Orel Hershiser used to say, "Command one pitch, compete.  Two pitches, win.  Three pitches, dominate."

Felix Hernandez quite literally commands four pitches, and they ain't mediocre pitches.  Again and again and again, Felix throws his 12-6 curve ball and it bites late, and it breaks down to knee level, and it's on the outside black or inside black.  

There are two pitchers I've ever seen with better command than Felix, those being Greg Maddux and Pedro Martinez.  Maddux was insane:  he would throw his CURVE BALL! into a teacup, inside, outside, up, down.  A sequence of pitches with Maddux vs Barry Bonds was hard to believe.

But Felix is a close third.  And the result of that is:  Felix gives up 1, 2 runs verrrrrrry consistently.  You go to a Felix game and you know you're going to have fun.  (Somebody could check me on it but) Felix seems to have fewer bad games than almost any other star pitcher.  It's in the nature of his 4 pitches and command.

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Savor the Moment(s), Dept.

Care to revisit Felix' glorious 7-0 run to start the season?

OPENING DAY = M's 4, Angels 1  

In the first inning, Felix struck out the side ... around a Mike Trout homer to deep center field.  Felix mowed down the Angels through 5 IP, allowing only one walk and a seeing-eye single, by which time the M's were up 4-1.

He finished with a line of 7 2 0 0 1 10.  Lines like that make you wish that you still played fantasy baseball.

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APRIL 12 = M's 8, @ A's 7

Felix was blasted for three earned runs.  He didn't get the victory, but the M's did, when Nelson Cruz hit a long homer in the 10th inning.

Mike Blowers says he enjoys it more when Felix doesn't have his wipeout stuff; on the day he had 2 BB against 1 K.  But as you novel writers realize, the hero can't be heroic unless the odds are against him. Felix is what you get when you combine Supreme Talent with being an Overachiever.

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APRIL 18 = M's 3, stRangers 1

It was a throughly enjoyable game flow; the M's went up 1-0 in the fourth inning, whereupon Texas tied the game immediately in the 5th.  But the M's re-established their comfortable One Run Felix Lead in the bottom of the 5th.  Then they tacked on an "insurance run" in the 6th.  This is almost the ideal gameflow on Happy Felix Day.

Felix' line this time:  7 ip, 2h, 2bb, 12k.

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APRIL 24 = M's 2, Twins 0

This was Felix' complete-game shutout.  0 walks, 9 strikeouts.  Nelson Cruz hit a laser shot into the left field seats to put the M's up 1-0, so the M's were ahead the entire three hours.

Stat:  Felix has 50 strikeouts against 8 walks and 3 homers on the season.  With his 59.8% grounder percentage that puts his "fielding-independent ERA" at 2.85.  Leading the big leagues right now:  Michael Pineda, at 1.93.  Pineda has 54 strikeouts against 3 walks!

Stat:  Nelson Cruz is at +18 runs added (which calculates your bases gained and lost, and factors in the base-out situations you were in).  Robinson Cano is at +5, Kyle Seager is at +3, and all the other M's are at miniscule plusses or huge minuses.

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APRIL 29 = M's 5, @stRangers 2

Felix scuffled through 7 IP and 2 ER.  He fanned only four and needed 114 pitches to get two outs into the seventh.  But the M's, again, never trailed.  Bad Felix led the M's to their fifth straight win in his appearances.

The M's got their key runs on:  

  • A Nelson Cruz homer in the 2nd
  • A Mike Zunino double play on which Weeks scored
  • A LoMo double to knock in Ruggiano and Cruz

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May 4 = M's 3, @ Angels 2

Felix with a 7 6 1 1 1 8 box score.  

We went into the 7th inning scoreless, but then Nelson Cruz advanced to the batter's box, from where he was in scoring position.  Naturally, he golfed a shot 406' down the foul line against Matt Shoemaker.  Two batters later, Logan Morrison used his bat to hit another one out.  

Felix came out in the bottom of the seventh and fanned two men to go with a groundout, but Matt Joyce hit a solo homer.

Very next inning, Seth Smith hit a solo homer.

Bottom of the ninth, David Freeeze hit a solo shot against Fernando Rodney to make it interesting.  There y'go amig-O.  Three to two with five solo homers.

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May 10 = M's 4, A's 3.   You probably remember this one.  It was one of the Mariners' two "comfortable" wins on the season, the other one occurring the day previous.

Like we sez, it's all about the managers' in-game tactical decisions.

Stat:  Felix has 2.2 WAR so far this season.  He's on pace for slightly over 10 WAR this season; his previous high was 7.1.

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HOF Watch

Every time you turn on the TV, Felix is going after another milestone ... 2,000 K's, or the most strikeouts by a Venezuelan, or the best ERA ever against the Rangers, or something.

Depending on how you count it, he has anywhere from 60% to 80% of a Hall of Fame career in the books.  At his current rate, he'll "qualify" for the Hall of Fame at age 31.  

His WAR to date is comparable to the career totals of Dennis "El Presidente" Martinez, Vida Blue, Hoyt Wilhelm, Steve Rogers, Roy Oswalt and Jamie Moyer.  He's got more career WAR than two dozen members of the Hall of Fame, including John McGraw, Lefty Gomez, Hack Wilson, Catfish Hunter and Dizzy Dean.

That's pretty cool.  At age 29, Felix has had a better career than Catfish Hunter and Dizzy Dean.  Bill James was once asked, "Is Rickey Henderson a Hall of Famer?"  His reply, if you cut Ricky in half, you'd have two Hall of Famers.

Enjoy,

Dr D

 

 

 

 

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