No disrespect Matt, but you and I must have watched those first two innings from different planes of the multiverse. The Felix I was watching wasn't disinterested, lazy, or unfocused. He was the diametric opposite of those things. He was bleeping pissed. He just came out, two innings in a row, and couldn't find his fastball to save his life.
-He shanked four straight pitches in the first, walked the leadoff man. Still hadn't found it by the time he left that pitch up to Odor, and the miniscule pugilist punished the mistake.
-Shanked three straight to lead off the second, barked "F***" after the third one. Was visibly, viscerally furious with himself. Fought back to 3-2, gave up a blast. Got touched up a couple more times in the inning, because his pitches were missing consistently to bad locations. By the end of the inning he had done an admirable job of reasserting a zen-like calm, even as Andrus lashed a single into left and Choo trotted home in front of Felix's face. Incidentally, this state of acceptance and calm is probably what allowed him to salvage the start, beginning in the third inning.
Did Felix come out sloppy, two innings in a row? Yeah he sure did. It was hard to watch. But was it because he didn't care enough to be better? Hell no. I went back and watched those frames, because I wanted to see if you were right. Maybe I'd catch him staring off into the distance between pitches, or greeting a XBH with a "meh" kind of shrug. That's not what happened at all. He was locked in every second the camera was on him. He had that quiet simmering fury that used to lead to Felix "murdering souls" (my personal descriptor) back when he still had his full arsenal. It was the Richard Sherman, chip-on-the-shoulder smolder. Unfortunately for Felix, he's already fired roughly 4000 bullets for us in his career, and his arm ain't what it used to be. No amount of moxy can get him through his physical shortcomings, at least at times.
Look, James Paxton wasn't a headcase back before he was Zeus. Felix isn't lazy now that he's not a Cy Young candidate. That's just lazy analysis. There's a reason Seattle loves him, and it's not just because he was good. It's because he's a goddamn warrior, and the way he carries himself representing the city and the franchise is a joy to watch. I don't care if he's past his prime: long live the King. He stayed in Seattle when he probably should have left, and he fought like a lion in seasons where he was the only one awake on the whole team. More to the point, he tried as hard as he could to keep us in the game in a start where he had his D, D+ stuff for the first two innings.
He's earned our love and respect, and I say we give it to him even though he's fallen on hard times. If anyone deserves it, this man does.