sadlyajetsfan wrote:i know his upside is the Ks he gets. what is he worth in a league without ks? say cats are era,wins,whip,saves? i have him and regret it a bit now because i know his wins wont be more than 15,era wont be too great
I'd say most of your assessment is wrong. He's a 21 yo phenom with a full season under his belt now. People jumped too quickly in 06 but I still rank him top 15 SP.
He's pitching in a great park, induces more GB than most non-sinker pitchers and hasn't even thrown a slider yet.
I like Felix better than Young, but I guess I like both. I'd say Felix is a little better than Dan Haren, but a little worse than C.C. Sabathia, though Felix has the most upside of the three.
So when Hernandez was 19 last summer, the Mariners were careful to pull the plug on their rising star when he reached 205 combined spring and regular-season innings (a few miles over the perfect odometer reading of 190 innings). And at 20 this season -- he turns 21 on April 8 -- they were looking somewhere in the 200-210 range.
Except ...
"That's probably out the door," Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi says. "We'd like to do that. Last year, we were going to do it come hell or high water (in) his first professional season in the big leagues."
What's changed?
"He's chomping at the bit, and he kind of has a right to," Bavasi continues. "He's done everything we've asked him to. He's never pitched winter ball, and that pisses him off. He threw plenty of games last year where he was free and easy, walking off the mound saying, 'Man, I can finish this game.'
"He's trying to become a man, and we're not letting him. It's time to let him."
It's not just the innings cap, they forced him to learn how to get outs using only location and change of speed. I've only seen him throw a few of them, but his slider is Dwight Gooden/ (early) Kerry Woodish. It has a nasty and very late break. Until it's too late for a hitter to adjust, it looks identical to his fastball. Last year will be good for him, because unlike Wood, he's learning to get outs on his less arm-damaging pitches, so when he unleashes it, he still won't have to rely on it as much.
I have heard that management has not even allowed him to use his slider yet which is supposedly his best pitch. They want to save his arm some and have him develop his other pitches first. Is this true and if so what are the details and is there a link to this story somewhere? When will they unleash him and add this pitch back to his repertoire? I also hope not using the pitch that often has not given him any rust or have it become less effective when he decides to use it again.
I believe if this is true and he finally gets to add his best pitch he will absolutely break out this year in dominating fashion.
ScotteyTooHotty wrote:I have heard that management has not even allowed him to use his slider yet which is supposedly his best pitch. They want to save his arm some and have him develop his other pitches first. Is this true and if so what are the details and is there a link to this story somewhere? When will they unleash him and add this pitch back to his repertoire?
IMO, the management is being smart, and quite honestly, doing what is best for Felix as well. Forcing him to develop his other pitches is good for his arm, as well as good for him as pitcher. If he isn't force to use the slider as his "out" pitcher, just think how much more dangerous his slider is. They are developing him into a more complete pitcher with.
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by Yoda » Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:12 pm 
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