Longtime Seattle ace Felix Hernandez looks to be leading the competition for a place in Atlanta’s Cole Hamels-less rotation, Mark Bowman of MLB.com relays. The 33-year-old King Felix has given himself the upper hand with 4 2/3 innings of one-run, six-strikeout ball this spring. Hernandez, who’s competing against Sean Newcomb, Kyle Wright and Touki Toussaint for one of two spots, is attempting to revive his career back-to-back trying seasons. The former AL Cy Young winner’s recent struggles forced him to settle for a minor league contract over the winter, and if he does make the Braves, he’ll earn a $1MM salary.
- The Royals aren’t sure when Adalberto Mondesi will make his Cactus League debut, but they continue to expect the shortstop to be ready for the season opener, manager Mike Matheny stated over the weekend (via Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com). “It’s just about getting him enough reps to be ready by Opening Day. We should be good,” Matheny said of Mondesi, who’s working back from the left shoulder surgery he underwent last September. Before suffering that injury, the 24-year-old turned in his second straight productive season, totaling 2.4 fWAR with a .263/.291/.424 line and 43 stolen bases.
- Turning to Hernandez’s ex-team, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times delves into the competition among infielder/outfielder Dylan Moore, outfielder Braden Bishop and infielder/outfielder Tim Lopes for the Mariners’ final two bench spots. The most major league experience of the three belongs to Moore, who took 282 trips to the plate for the Mariners last season and hit .206/.302/.389 with nine home runs and 11 steals. He saw action at every position on the diamond but catcher, even pitching an inning. Bishop’s a decently regarded prospect (Baseball America ranks him 19th in the team’s system), but injuries – including a lacerated spleen – have slowed him down. He made a brutal debut in the majors last season, batting .107/.153/.107 in 60 PA. Lopes hit well, on the other hand (.270/.359/.360 in 128 PA), and has continued to do so this spring.
- Andrew Velazquez hasn’t been an Oriole for long, having joined the club via waivers two weeks ago, but he’s making a good early impression. Velazquez, who’s among those competing for a bench role with the Orioles, is “migrating toward the front of the line of utility candidates,” Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes. The switch-hitting 25-year-old spent time in the majors with the Rays and Indians from 2018-19, though he only combined for 36 plate appearances with those teams. Most of his recent work has come in Triple-A ball, where he owns a .260/.316/.415 line in 648 PA.
I wish nothing but the best for Felix! I attended his last game as a Mariner and watched him pitch here for 14 years. What an amazing competitor, teammate and passion he has for the game. I hope he’s dominant for Atlanta and rediscovers his A game, he knows how to pitch, I believe he’ll find it again. Good luck Felix we have nothing but love for you in Seattle
Classy
That post makes me hope Félix gets back to his dominant ways
I saw Felix in Seattle once. 2015. Great connection with the city and fans.
He’s a rival I always respected and HOF material in my book.
One of my biggest baseball regrets is not getting to sit in the Kings Court while he played in Seattle.
Felix will always be a Mariner to me. It’s hard to imagine him pitching for anyone else.
Love and appreciate you wrote. I just don’t know what, if anything, he has left.
Lopes and Suri/ Cargo for the last 2cslots please. Neither Bishop nor Moore can hit their way out of a paper bag.
I am 100% mariners fan always..A little bit of my heart resides in atlanta this year. I will definitely be watching and rooting felix on. Heres hoping the King comes back and has a great season!!!
You’re welcome in Braves country! I always felt the same about Ichiro and Griffey, though they never suited up for the Braves, I always pulled for them individually.
The Angels really couldn’t offer Felix a minor league deal? Good lord man. Like at least rey
*try
Why are the Angels fans obsessed with every pitcher not on their roster?
They brought in 2 pretty good SPs yet their crybaby fans cant be pleased.
I think Bundy will be a beast and Teheran not too shabby
Its typical with most of the cry baby/armchair know it all Angel fans. Some of them can’t get thru their thick skulls Cole had no intention of signing with any other team but the Yankees. They all pile on Cam Bedrosian after he has a bad ST outing. They come up with trade scenarios involving Adell for pitching. As a Angel fan I’ve been down that road too many times.Trading a a good prospect for who knows what.
Coincidence: King translates to “Rey” in spanish.
Felix deserves a shot at the HOF. I don’t think he will be dominate again. But he could get a few above average seasons in to get his numbers up.
Yikes a few seasons? Maybe one season split between the pen and 5 spot
He accepts a pen role he could be like John Smoltz and extend his career a couple years.
Except Smoltz was still a good pitcher when he transitioned to the bullpen. And then he went back and was a quality starter.
I just hope he doesn’t go out like Steve Carlton did… pitching for the Giants and the White Sox and the Indians in his final years. It became painfully obvious that a guy who once went 27-10 pitching for a Phillies club that lost over 100 games just didn’t have it anymore.
I’m rooting for him, but I think he’s benefited from early spring weakness in hitters rather than pitches well himself. His first outing was against the worse of the worse. Ultimately, I’d rather see wright and Wilson get the two open spots going into the season
Agreed
Exactly. Pitching 4 good innings doesn’t mean he can pitch 100 versus guys not working on approach in ST
I’d like to see consistency from Félix over several more starts. The good news is, if he’s lousy, the Braves made a minimal financial commitment to him. And there are reinforcements on the farm.
It’s entertaining to me that per mark bowman two or three days ago it was a long shot for Felix.
yeah a lot of these experts just spit ball their own opinions without much intel as to why something is true…..I’m rooting for Felix for sure and hope he can be the steal of the offseason. But doesn’t it say more about our high-end prospects not making the team if he wins the last spot?!….
Not at all. The Braves have what amount to four young arms that will already be in the rotation with Hamels out. They might want a veteran with consistency to balance it out.
Soroka, Fried, and some mix of Folty, Newk, Wright and Wilson. That’s four very young (innings wise) pitchers that they will likely monitor closely. Add Touki as a possibility and it doesn’t get much older. That’s not even including Anderson, Muller and a few others.
Braves prospects are just fine. They are still young for the leagues they are in and need full time work with reduced stress.
One of the not-talked-about tales of baseball is that Felix actually came pretty close to signing with Atlanta when he was an amateur. I think the Braves, Yankees, and a few other teams offered more money than the Mariners.
A big reason he signed with Seattle was because his idol and Venezuelan country man, Freddy Garcia, was pitching for them when he signed.
For a franchise so rich in pitching history as the Braves, it’s still odd they haven’t had a bonafide ace since the Big Three Hung up their spikes. Interesting to think about an alternative timeline where they’ve been lead by Wainwright and Hernández for the past 12 years.
Pretty tough to watch guys like Mike Soroka. Can’t say I have a whole lot of sympathy for the Braves not having an ace for a few years.
Sincerely,
An orioles fan.
Felix sucks, he’s lazy, fat and rich. He is yesterdays news, move on.
Felix probably won’t finish the year with the Braves. Lots of love to the King but the last few years point to the ending. Hopefully I’m wrong but no one should count on anything from the King this year.
Only thing for sure is when he retires he signs a 1 day contract. He will be on the ring of honor and our HOF. For the real HOF I think it is iffy. He had the stuff to hang with the best but not the teams. The Mariners let him down by putting profit over product.
When exactly did the Mariners put profit over product? Was it when they signed Chone Figgons? Was it when they signed Adrian Beltre? Was it when they signed Robinson Cano? Was it when they signed Nelson Cruz? Was it when they extended Segura and Seager? The Mariners have spent way more money than most teams in MLB the last 15 years.
Not sure what you’re bragging about, 24. During those 15 years, they had 5 winning seasons and 0 playoff appearances.