Felix Hernandez trending in right direction for Baseball Hall of Fame

Felix Hernandez won’t be part of the 2026 Hall of Fame class, but the uptick in votes from this time last year bodes well moving forward.

Last year, the number one aim was for Felix Hernandez to just stay on the ballot in his first year of eligibility to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. One of the rules every year is to receive votes from at least 5.0 percent of the ballots with him eventually being named by 81 voters, good for 20.6 percent.

This year it’s now about making progress in the right direction, as Hernandez hopes to follow Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez and Ichiro Suzuki into Cooperstown. Well, just over half of the ballot results have been revealed for 2026, and it makes for encouraging reading for King Felix and Mariners fans.

As per BBHOFtracker.com, 204 public ballots and 12 anonymous ones have been made public as of Monday morning, which represents 50.9 percent of the 424 estimated total ballots cast. For Hernandez specifically he has received 123 votes to date, which calculates to 56.9 percent of the ballots revealed up to this point.

The 39-year-old is easily above the 5.0 percent overall requirement to remain on the ballot next year, but clearly needs a minor miracle to be voted into Cooperstown in 2026. Put another way, he would need to receive 93.8 percent of the remaining ballots to reach the required 75 percent to get into the Hall of Fame, with the final voting results set to be announced at 3 p.m. PT on Tuesday,

Felix Hernandez tough to top in his prime

It was always known that the path to the Baseball Hall of Fame would not be straightforward for Hernandez. However, it’s tough not to be encouraged about the chances moving forward, for a pitcher who was one of the most dominant in the game during the majority of his time with the Mariners.

The Venezuela native was the very definition of durable during his career between 2005 and 2019, when he was first among all Major League starters, with 96 starts of eight+ innings. His resume is extremely impressive, including an AL Cy Young Award in 2010, two ERA titles and six All-Star Game selections.

The crowning moment of Hernandez’s career came on Aug. 15 in 2012. This was the date when he pitched just the 23rd perfect game in Major League history, in a 1-0 win against the Tampa Bay Rays.

However, while the 2009 MLB wins leader’s peak was undoubtedly Hall of Fame worthy, critics contest it did not last long enough. In addition — and this is particularly unfair given that starting pitchers can only influence one out of every five games — that he never appeared in a single postseason game.

Overall though, there is more positive than negative when it comes to Hernandez’s time in the majors. Whether it is ultimately enough to get him into Cooperstown remains to be seen, but as of right now Mariners fans should be happy about the direction he’s trending.

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Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rogers Photography

With eight more opportunities remaining after this year, how confident are you that Felix Hernandez will end up being voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.