Braves' Felix Hernandez Reveals He'll Retire if He Reaches These 2 Career Milestones

Atlanta Braves right-hander Felix Hernandez is one of the best and most decorated pitchers of his generation. He won two ERA titles, one Cy Young award, and was a six-time All-Star across 15 electric seasons for the Seattle Mariners.

The 34-year-old is without a doubt in the twilight of his career, but he isn't going to hang up the spikes until he reaches two milestones that have eluded him thus far: 3,000 strikeouts and 200 wins. Entering the 2020 season, Hernandez is 476 punchouts and 31 wins away from reaching those feats.

This is an outstanding goal, but it isn't exactly going to be a walk in the park for King Felix. For starters, despite enjoying a nice start to Spring Training, the King isn't guaranteed a spot in Atlanta's starting rotation. Let's not forget that the Braves signed him to a minor-league contract after a woeful final two years in Seattle.

During that span, Hernandez finished 9-22 with a 5.97 ERA, a 1.467 WHIP and a 5.59 FIP. He also hasn't logged an ERA lower than 4.00 since 2016, when he posted a middling 3.82 tally.

With that being said, he absolutely should have reached the 200-win mark with the Mariners, who did little to offer him proper run support during his stretch of dominance. Get a load of this staggering fact provided by baseball statistician Ryan Spaeder.

Offense shouldn't be a problem in Atlanta, which boasts one of the deepest lineups in the MLB, and we'll certainly be rooting for Hernandez to reach these milestones.