Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Felix Hernandez: 300 Wins?

Mariners’ ace Felix Hernandez entered the 2013 season with 98 wins. This is his ninth MLB season, so he’s only averaged 11 wins per season. Now 27 years old, if he averages 14 wins a year for the next 14 years (through the 2026 season, when he will be 40 years old), Hernandez will still be six wins short of three hundred. In his eight previous seasons Hernandez only won 14 games three times, but never back to back.

Now for the inevitable Greg Maddux comparison: The Braves’ ace won at least 15 games a year for a record 17 straight years. At the end of that run he had 305 wins. After dropping to 13 wins in 2005, Greg rebounded to win 15 games the next year, then won 14 games in 2007. That was twenty straight years with at least 13 wins. After the Braves opted not to re-sign Maddux after the 2003 season, he went on to win 66 more games over the next five seasons…an average of 13 wins a year.

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