King Felix Day in Toronto | IXGAMES
It’s been a disappointing start to the 2015 season for both the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays. But there hasn’t been anything disappointing about the work Felix Hernandez has done so far. Hernandez has led the Mariners to seven wins (plus-5.35 units) in his eight starts, and this Friday, he leads Seattle into Rogers Centre to face the Jays. Hernandez (3.37 FIP) isn’t quite as dominant as we’ve seen in the past, though. He’s benefited from a stingy .248 BABIP, and he’s stranded a career-high 88.0 percent of baserunners to keep Seattle (18-21, minus-7.23 units) from sinking any further into the red. Also, King Felix has seen his average fastball slip to 91.2 mph, but he’s still striking out a healthy 9.05 batters per nine innings. The Jays (18-24, minus-7.31 units) respond with Marco Estrada, who came over from the Milwaukee Brewers during the offseason in exchange for Adam Lind. After beginning the year in the bullpen, Estrada (5.06 FIP) has made three starts for Toronto; the Jays lost all three games as underdogs, and Estrada failed to go beyond five innings every time. That’s despite a very friendly .234 BABIP, with 84.0 percent of runners left on base.