King Felix - Not

Felix Hernandez needed to give his team a chance to win in Toronto in order to keep the Mariners playoff hopes alive. Instead, the King was very pedestrian, non-royalty in his 4 2/3rds innings, giving up 8 runs to the Blue Jays. For an ace Hernandez does not seem to pitch like one in big, pressure games. Of course, Seattle hasn't played in many pressure games since they are usually out of the playoff race by the all-star break. By playing for a non-contender King Felix never gets into many pressure-packed games. I'd rather have a Jon Lester, James Shields or Max Scherzer in a one-game-take-all than the King. No question that he puts up good stats every year. But you know the old knock or the old saying about stats. Stats are for teams that lose.