Let's start by acknowledging that it is neither smart nor fair to draw conclusions from a pitcher's first start in Spring Training. Granted. However, the wait to see the 2019 version of Felix Hernandez has been one of considerable anticipation and anxiety. Will he bounce back? Can he bounce back?
My initial reaction? It didn't go well. In fact, watching him pitch on the ROOT broadcast, it looked a lot like last year. As I noted above, it's too early to draw a conclusion; this is just a reaction. But it's not a good one.
He does look trimmer, especially through the hips and his first inning looked good. Mike Blowers said his fastball hit, 90-92. His breaking ball looked sharp as did his change-up. He had an Shed Long error behind him, but finished the first inning fine.
He didn't, however,get out of the second. He was slated to throw 35 pitches, but he ended up with 47, got one out and gave up 4 runs. It is true, he had some adversity. An ump called a questionable hit fair down the line, Narvaez gave up a passed ball, a probable inning-ending double-play caromed off of the King's glove.
All too reminiscent of last season. He had some problems, then started to look shaky, threw a lot of pitches, seemed to start missing the zone. He got that bewildered look on his face you see sometimes. He didn't look sharp anymore. He didn't look like the pitcher from the inning before. Next thing you know four runs have scored and he's out of there. Just not a confidence building start for him or for the fans.
........
Personal note: my grand-daughter Larkin Daly and her team-mates from the Bellarmine Prep Lions are in Spokane just about to tip off in the regional 4A basketball play-offs against Lewis and Clark HS. She's an off-the-bench guard and a tough defender on an excellent 20-4 team. Wish them luck. Whatever happens today they have already qualified for the state championship tournament next week, so they're playing for a better seed.
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