Felix Hernandez Dominated His First Inning in a Braves Uniform and it Felt Extremely Strange
By Michael Luciano
Felix Hernandez was as synonymous with the Seattle Mariners as any player not named Ichiro over his 15-year career with them, but the six-time All-Star was let go after regressing in a pretty major fashion over the last two seasons.
The Atlanta Braves picked him up and gave him a chance to compete for the role of No. 5 starter. King Felix made his Braves debut at Spring Training, and his trademark pitches being delivered in blue and red still doesn't look right.
First Daily I'm watching baseball tweet of 2020 featuring Felix Hernandez in a Braves uniform pic.twitter.com/MOzQtxadpr
— Young Ashy God (@AshyVandross) February 22, 2020
Luckily, Hernandez was able to turn back the clock to the early part of the last decade. Hernandez threw a perfect 1-2-3 inning, inducing two groundouts, and ending the frame with a swinging strikeout.
Felix Hernandez tosses a perfect top of the first inning. Sat down the O's on a pair of ground outs to third and a swinging strikeout. #Braves
— 680 The Fan (@680TheFan) February 22, 2020
Yes, it was the Orioles, but still.
If there is anyone across all of baseball who deserves to be a part of a team with a prime shot at a World Series ring, it's Felix. He was the best pitcher in baseball on some awful Mariners teams for years, and his recent stretch of poor performances was simply hard to watch. If he can be a solid fifth starter with Atlanta and get a shot in the postseason, we could finally see King Felix end up as a World Series champion.