Seattle Mariners Icon Felix Hernandez Trending Well in Early Hall of Fame Voting
Thus far, Seattle Mariners icon Felix Hernandez is trending well in his case for election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
According to Foolish Baseball, Hernandez has appeared on 30 percent of the 56 public ballots thus far. There's a long way to go, as there are 385 Hall of Fame voters in total. Hernandez has to appear on at least five percent of the ballots in order to remain on the ballot next year.
It's a 56 vote sample, but King Félix appearing on 30.5% of public Hall of Fame ballots so far is the surprise of the cycle. Voters are valuing his clear HOF-worthy peak. Many are already adjusting the traditional counting stat standards downwards to include him.
— Foolish Baseball (@FoolishBB) December 28, 2024
It's always felt like a longshot that Hernandez would get in to the Hall of Fame, but early voting indicates that his career is being appreciated by voters.
Among many career accolades, the Hernandez won a Cy Young and was a two-time Cy Young runner-up. He was a six-time All-Star who also threw a perfect game. He's a member of the Mariners Hall of Fame and had a run of 16 straight starts of seven or more innings pitched and two runs or less allowed, which made baseball history in 2014. He also won two American League ERA titles and was a three-time Roberto Clemente Award nominee.
Lifetime, Hernandez was 169-136 with a 3.42 ERA. He made 419 career appearances, with 418 of them being starts. He struck out 2,524 career batters, the most in M's team history.
If he were to ever get into the Hall of Fame, he'd join Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez as Mariners representatives. Ichiro Suzuki is set to get into the Hall of Fame this year as well.
The Hall of Fame results will be announced in January.
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