Felix Hernandez sees encouraging jump in Hall of Fame voting

While Felix Hernandez didn’t receive enough votes to qualify for the Baseball Hall of Fame this year, his future chances look promising.

The 2026 Baseball Writer’s Association of America (BBWAA) Hall of Fame voting results were announced on Tuesday and as expected, Felix Hernandez was not among those elected to Cooperstown. However, he did make news with one of the biggest second-year jumps ever in Major League history.

Hernandez received votes on 46.1 percent of ballots, up from 20.6 percent last year in his first year of eligibility. His jump of 25.5 percent represented the largest rise by any returning candidate since 1967, as he trends towards the 75 percent of votes required to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame.

King Felix represents an interesting test case for what is now required for a starting pitcher to get voted into Cooperstown, with him not recording 200 wins or 3,000 strikeouts during his 15 years in the majors. The parameters need to be adjusted accordingly, with starters pitching less innings and making less starts than in the past.

Changing HOF requirements for MLB starting pitchers

Even as BBWAA voters debate what should be required by a starting pitcher these days to be enshrined into Cooperstown, what cannot be denied is that during Hernandez’s peak he was one of the elite arms in all of baseball. Between 2009-15 he was named an AL All-Star six times and the one year he wasn’t in 2010, he won the AL Cy Young Award.

Despite the downturn in how much a starter pitches, it doesn’t take away from the fact Hernandez was a workhorse and the very definition of durable during his career. Between 2005 and 2019 he was first among all Major League starters, with 96 starts of eight+ innings.

The crowning glory of Hernandez’s career came on Aug. 15 in 2012, when he pitched the 23rd perfect game in MLB history in a 1-0 win against the Tampa Bay Rays. However, it remains a regret for many that he never got the opportunity to pitch on the postseason stage with the Mariners.

• Providence Swedish Performance Center will be the Belgium Teams Training Hub for the World Cup
• Brian Woo Dominates in Mariners’ Series Win Over Braves
• Cautious Return for Cal Raleigh After Injury Absence
• Dante Fowler Jr Joins Seahawks: A Veteran’s Role
• Mariners do right by Randy Johnson with statue to honor his legacy

Felix Hernandez has genuine reason to be hopeful

From a Mariners perspective Hernandez deserves to be inducted into Cooperstown, but it of course isn’t as simple as that. In fact starting pitchers have a tough time getting into the Hall of Fame historically, with the BBWAA only electing 39 since the inaugural class in 1936. (As per Adam Jude of The Seattle Times, another 37 have been inducted through special committees.)

In this respect, it’s worth noting the 39-year-old’s career 3.42 ERA is better than 13 starting pitchers in the Hall of Fame. Additionally, his career 49.9 bWAR is better than the likes of Addie Joss (47.7), Dizzy Dean (43.9) and Jack Morris (43.6).

Overall, anyone associated with the Mariners should be encouraged by the uptick in voting for Hernandez to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame and with eight more opportunities to come. There’s still plenty of work to do, but his chances of eventually joining Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martínez and Ichiro Suzuki in Cooperstown seem to be a realistic hope for the M’s fanbase.

Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rogers Photography

How confident are you that Hernandez will end up being voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.