The King's Arm Is Dead

Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez has had an underwhelming start to the season, and it turned worse Tuesday. Hernandez lasted two innings in Seattle’s 19-9 loss to Detroit, ceding four runs before getting yanked after 48 pitches. Hernandez leads the majors in hits allowed with 39 and currently has a 4.73 ERA. He was pulled against the Tigers because of a “dead arm,” and now he’s going on the DL.

Hernandez is expected to miss a few weeks with inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Manager Scott Servais’s quote on the matter was not particularly reassuring:

“He just didn’t have much tonight,” Servais said. “It’s like dead arm as much as anything. He didn’t have pain or anything like that. It’s just nothing was coming out and he didn’t feel good.”

This wasn’t the only bad news for the Mariners, who are 8-13 and last in the AL West. Starting right fielder Mitch Haniger went down last night with a strained oblique and will miss at least a month with the injury.

If it seems like King Felix has been around month after month, gobbling up innings and putting together excellent outings regardless of whether the Mariners sucked, it’s because he has. Since his debut in 2005, the 31-year-old has pitched 2,442.1 innings:

If this is it, well, we’ll always remember 2009 and 2010, when Felix just threw marbles and chainsaws at people.