Hall of Fame Poll: Félix Hernández

Félix Hernández was a right-handed pitcher who played 15 seasons in the MLB, all with the Mariners. This is his second time on the ballot. Last year, 20.6% of Writers voted for him.His career numbers are 169-136, with a 3.42 ERA in 419 games and 418 starts. In 2729.2 innings, he had 2524 strikeouts and 805 walks. He had a 49.9 bWAR.His bWAR topped out at 7.2. He had five seasons with bWARs above 5.0Hernández won one Cy Young, got votes five other times (finishing second twice), MVP votes five times, and was on six All-Star teams. The year he won the Cy Young, he didn’t make the All-Star game.Unfortunately, being a lifetime Mariner, he never pitched in the Playoffs.He had an eight-season streak of throwing over 200 innings and having a 2.90 ERA, during which time we all thought he was a surefire Hall of Famer.But Hernández aged out of baseball early; in his last four seasons, he had a 4.89 ERA and a 26-35 record. The streak of 200-inning seasons likely took a toll on his arm.He’d be a no-doubter if he had a few more healthy seasons and got his win total up to 200.I think voters will have to lower their view of the number of wins needed to make the hall, but I don’t know if they are ready to vote for someone with 169 wins.A good comparison to Hernández would be Sandy Koufax, who had a 165-87 record in 12 seasons.If this was Lookout Landing, I’m sure the yes side would win.