The Seattle Mariners will be without their best pitcher and one of the league’s top arms for at least a couple weeks, as a calf injury has sidelined Felix Hernandez.
“The Mariners have placed Felix Hernandez on the 15-day DL with a strained right calf and called up James Paxton from Triple-A Tacoma to make the start for the Mariners Wednesday night in San Diego,” per Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle. “The move is retroactive to May 28.”
Assuming King Felix is out for only the 15 days, it will only be two to three starts, and therefore, not that big of a deal for the Mariners.
If, however, he’s forced to miss more action, it’s a potentially big problem for Seattle, who currently sits only one-half game behind the first-place Texas Rangers in the American League West.
Hernandez, a six-time All-Star, is having another solid year for the Mariners. His 1.22 WHIP is a little high based on his career total (1.17) and his strikeouts per nine ratio (7.6) is down from his career total of of 8.5. Despite those regressions, Hernandez has a rock solid 2.86 ERA.
The good news for Seattle is that it’s not getting a completely unproven commodity in James Paxton. He not only has 30 career Major League starts, but has a very respectable career ERA/WHIP of 3.16/1.26.
In 47.2 innings with Triple-A Tacoma this season, he has a 3.97 ERA and 1.15 WHIP.