Felix Hernandez’s Hall of Fame support grows in second year on ballot
Support for Felix Hernandez’s National Baseball Hall of Fame case is building at a rate unseen in decades.
The Mariners icon and dominant right-hander will have to wait for the phone call of a lifetime — but ‘King Felix’ enjoyed a considerable spike in Hall of Fame voting announced Tuesday, rising from 20.6 percent in his first year on the ballot (2025) to a promising 46.1 percent in Year 2.
Players must receive support from 75 percent of voters to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, along with a required five percent to remain on the ballot. Players remain on the ballot for a maximum of 10 years, meaning Hernandez has eight more tries to etch his name into baseball immortality if his upward trend continues.
His support more than doubled in 2026, the largest rise in percentage by any returning candidate since 1967. The momentum is aided by 37 first-time voters, 75.7 percent (28) of which voted for King Felix in 2026.
Eligible voting members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) cast a total of 425 ballots in 2026, requiring players to receive at least 319 votes for election. Two fit that mold Tuesday: Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones.
Hernandez received 196 of those votes. Historically, that number rises each year as candidates are either elected to the Hall of Fame or become ineligible. Seattle’s Edgar Martinez, for example, reached the 75-percent threshold on his 10th and final ballot.
Hernandez is one of five pitchers to notch 2,500+ strikeouts and 2,500+ innings pitched for one franchise, joining the likes of Bob Gibson (STL) and Clayton Kershaw (LAD), per Mariners PR. The six-time All-Star and Mariners Hall of Famer won the AL Cy Young Award in 2010 and threw the 23rd perfect game in MLB history on August 15, 2012, in a 1-0 win against the Tampa Bay Rays at then-named Safeco Field.
This story was originally published January 21, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
