Mariners shut down Felix

[TellItToTheDA]

Really. Just, really.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/baseball/archives/223235.asp


The Mariners have decided that 249 2/3 stellar innings were enough for Felix Hernandez this season. He will not start on Sunday, the final day of the season.

"At the age of 24, we think that as we move forward with this organization he is the centerpiece of what we are doing and certainly in our opinion the best pitcher in the league," Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said. "With what he's done we'd like him to just prepare for next year."

[JosephC]

Great way to end the season. Piss of your best player.

[clarknova]

As a fan, I wish he'd have pitched again. I Thought about going to the game if he did... Realistically though, I understand it. Too many variables. If he got hurt, or blows his arm out in April, letting him pitch one more game after 250 IP at age 24 on a 100 loss team to try and squeeze out a couple more Cy Young votes would have seemed ridiculous. He already has the IP, ERA, Quality Starts, probably Ks, and mutiple other category leads in the bag. He can't lose them. I don't think there are a bunch of voters out there going, "you know, If he was 14-12 instead of 13-12 I'd totally vote for him." Another variable is he goes out, gets in a jam, gets pulled early to protect his arm and ends up with a 13-13 record, and looks bad in his last start. Now he doesn't even have a winning record. I really want him to win that Cy Young, and there's a pretty good chance he doesn't. I don't think running him out there again helps his cause for the idiots that attribute team wins to the pitcher who can't control his team's hitting, but creates a risky situation where he could actually lose votes if he didn't end the year on a strong note for any voter on the fence. He kicked ass in his last start and was statistically the best pitcher in the AL in 2010. I like ending on a strong note, and I'd say as far as risk and reward go. This is the right play.
Too much to lose, too little to gain.
I like that Felix wanted the ball on Sunday, but I think he'll be fine with it. If he's pissed about anything it's his lame ass team mates that can't hit.

[Nateyb24]

Wow as Joseph said way to piss Felix off. By the way why do they go by innings? They should add up all the pitches hes thrown and then decide.

[clarknova]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/marinersblog/2013042244_felix_hernandezs_reaction_to_b.html

Sounds like he's going to be ok.

He's a competitor and wanted the ball. It sounds like he understands the reasoning though...

Nateyb24- The statistic for innings pitched is reflective of the number of outs recorded by the pitcher. It's like if a guy pitches 200 innings in a season, then you know there were 600 outs recorded while he was in the game. They use it as a general measuring tool for how tired their arm might be and combine that with the age of the pitcher because it's the closest generally accepted statistic that actually points to how much pitching a guy has done in the season. It's like plate appearances for hitters. A guy with 125 plate appearances who's hitting .350 is looked on less favorably than one who's hitting .350 in 275 plate appearances. If Felix has an ERA of 2.27 and he's pitched 250 innings and you compare that to Buchholz who's pitched 173... Buchholz's ERA looks less impressive. Some guys it takes them 115 pitches to go 8 innings and then the next game they do it in 90. I agree that overall pitches thrown would be a clearer picture for how tired their arm might be, but all pitchers are different, and I think they're going off IP to just say, "hey, that's a ton of innings, no matter how you slice it".

FELIX FOR CY YOUNG! Dudes, I'm going to be so pissed if he doesn't win.... SO pissed.