Felix Hernandez is not just one of the greatest players in the history of the Seattle Mariners, but arguably their best pitcher. He put together an impressive resume over his 15 years in the Pacific Northwest – a six time All Star who won the 2010 AL Cy Young award and finished second twice. Hernandez threw a perfect game in 2012, the first no hitter thrown by a Mariners pitcher at SafeCo Field.
Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez picks up his first win in the Majors.
On August 25, 2010, Hernández struck out David Ortiz to record his 1,000th career strikeout. He became the 3rd youngest pitcher to do so since 1952, behind Bert Blyleven and Dwight Gooden, and also the 4th overall, behind Bob Feller.
On August 31, 2011, Felix struck out nine batters, giving him 204 strikeouts to that point in the season. It marked the third straight season in which he reached 200+ strikeouts. The only other pitchers to have three 200-K seasons at 25 or younger over the last 20 years are Clayton Kershaw, Kerry Wood and Yovani Gallardo. Kershaw did it in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Wood did it in 1998, 2001 and 2002. Gallardo did it in 2009, 2010, and 2011.
On August 15, Hernández threw the first perfect game in Mariners history and the 23rd and most recent perfect game in MLB history. He recorded 12 strikeouts, five of which were in the last two innings, against the Tampa Bay Rays in a 1–0 victory. It was the fourth no-hitter in team history and Hernández joined Randy Johnson and Chris Bosio as the only Mariners pitchers to throw individual no-hitters. One of their no-hitters were combined, needing six pitchers to do so on June 8 against the Dodgers. His perfect game was the last no-hitter thrown in the American League for the next three years, until his Japanese teammate, Hisashi Iwakuma succeeded him on August 12, 2015.
On February 13, 2013, Hernández signed a seven-year extension with the Mariners worth $175 million, voiding the final two years of his previous deal and including a team option for 2020. The contract made him the highest-paid pitcher in Major League history until he was surpassed by the $180 million extensions signed by Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers in March 2013. On April 22 in a 7–1 win against the Houston Astros, Hernández recorded his 100th career win. In that game, Hernández pitched six innings allowed five hits, walked one and struck out nine. On July 6, 2013, Hernández was selected to his fourth All-star game.
Felix won his second American League ERA title with a 2.14 ERA, three points under that of Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale. He achieved the ERA title on the last day of the season, on September 28 against the Angels going 5.1 innings allowing no runs and seven strikeouts. In 2014, Hernández set the lowest ERA mark by an AL pitcher since Pedro Martínez in 2000. He also set the lowest WHIP by an AL pitcher (0.92) since Martinez in 2000.
On August 15, Hernández earned his 150th career win, defeating Mike Trout and the Angels by a score of 3-2. This milestone win occurred on the fourth anniversary of his perfect game.
On May 11 against the Boston Red Sox, Felix recorded his 2,500th strikeout by striking out Michael Chavis, becoming the sixth-youngest pitcher in Major League history to reach the 2,500 strikeout mark.