Atlanta Braves: What do we need to see from Felix Hernandez this Spring

Atlanta Braves fans won’t have to wait long to see King Felix make his debut as he’s set to start the first game of spring training in 2020.

When the Atlanta Braves take on the Baltimore Orioles Saturday in their first spring training game of 2020, they’ll have a very familiar face on the mound.

It was announced Friday morning the Felix Hernandez will get the spring training Opening Day start for the Braves.

The 33-year-old (will be 34 in April) is trying to make a comeback in Atlanta after spending 15 seasons with the Seattle Mariners.

That last two-or-three seasons there were not great as he posted a 5.42 ERA from 2017-2019.

But from 2007-2016 he was considered one of the best starting pitchers in all of baseball making the All-Star game six times and winning the AL Cy Young award in 2010, while finishing in the top 10 of the voting six times.

It’s a long shot for King Felix to make the Opening Day roster, but with Cole Hamels likely missing the first month of the season, it does crack the door open a little bit for him to have a chance with a good Spring.

What do we need to see?

Hernandez has lost some zip on his fastball going from 93 MPH in 2015 to 90 MPH this past season. His curveball and changeup — both of which he throws a good bit — have also lost some velocity.

At his age and with the mileage on his arm (over 2,700 big league innings) he’s not likely to gain back that velocity.

Since he can’t really rely on blowing the fastball by hitters anymore, what I’ll be looking for is how he uses his offspeed pitches in the strikezone.

Can he create weak contact? Can he keep the ball in the park?

Those are two things that have plagued him the past couple of years. Last season his HR/FB percentage was 21 percent and his hard-hit percentage was 40.5 — the highest of his career.

If his K/9 is going to sit around 7 — and not 9.5 as it did back in the day — he has to do a better job of creating weak contact.

That’s what I’ll be looking for this Spring when I watch Felix take the mound. Can he still keep hitters off-balance enough with his offspeed pitches to create weak contact and limit the home runs?

As I’ve mentioned several times, I’m rooting hard for King Felix this Spring and want to see him succeed. But he has to realize that it’s up to him to make some adjustments.

He can’t keep doing what he’s been doing his entire career and think he’ll suddenly find success with it again. Hopefully the Braves coaching staff can help him with that and he can become a huge contributor for the Braves this season.

That journey begins on Saturday as Felix Hernandez takes the mound in Atlanta’s Grapefruit League opener against the Baltimore Orioles. The game starts at 1 p.m. ET and will be televised on FSSE.