Felix Hernandez found something in last Mariners start, but can he retain it?

Scott Servais and Felix Hernandez shared an animated back-and-forth conversation in the Seattle Mariners’ dugout when Hernandez exited after six much-needed innings in a 7-4 win over the Houston Astros on Monday.

It was centered on the two very different sides of Hernandez – the version from the first three innings when the Astros tagged him for four runs, and the final three innings when he retired nine of the final 10 batters he faced, including back-to-back strikeouts in the fifth to pass Andy Pettitte for No. 40 on MLB’s career strikeouts list.

But did Hernandez find something? And can he retain it?

“For me, it was a marked difference in the last three innings and the conversation was back and forth about do you know what you did?” Servais said. “Did you feel it? The player has to have a feeling for what it was.”

So, Felix – what was it?

“I don’t know if it was an adjustment or being angry – I don’t know,” Hernandez said after the start. “Pride? I don’t know. Just Skip told me the last three innings the ball was coming out much better than the first three.”

Servais claims Hernandez was playing coy there.

“He knows how he did it,” Servais laughed. “Hopefully he can repeat it.

It was more than just pitching angry or with pride, though maybe those had something to do with it. The real difference was a mechanical adjustment as the game went on that created such a difference in life and crispness to his pitches, particularly Hernandez’s fastball.

“He didn’t look angry to me, but if he felt the inner anger was possessing him to throw zeros up there, then I’m all in,” Servais said, tongue in cheek.

“He had a pretty good idea of the difference. He just said he was trying to locate the fastball. For me, the finish on his pitches, the extension down the mound, controlling his body over the rubber longer, getting the arm out in front – it was a noticeable difference, which was great.

“It wasn’t like his offspeed was dazzling anybody, the curve or the changeup. But the location of the fastball – we saw it consistently in the low 90s. He was finishing his pitches and he was locating the fastball and that was great to see, and we’re going to need that from him.”

That start for Hernandez was actually the third time in all of The King’s frustrating season that he’s averaged more than 90 mph on his fastball through the duration, according to Fangraphs.

The others he’s averaged more than 90? They were in back-to-back starts against the Yankees and Red Sox, which were two of his better outings this season (he allowed one earned run in seven innings in a 2-1 loss to Boston on June 14 and one earned run in five innings in a 7-5 loss to the Yankees).

That’s just the numbers, though, confirming what’s so evident to the eyes. Hernandez has struggled so much with fastball command this season.

But those final three innings against the Astros?

“I was able to put the fastball wherever I wanted,” he said. “To have my fastball in a good spot, it makes everything better.”

That’s so needed for Hernandez, who will likely be sliding back to the bullpen where he was exiled once James Paxton returns off the disabled list from his forearm injury next week in Oakland. Hernandez will likely make another start on Tuesday in San Diego against the Padres, with his ERA at a career-high 5.64 (it was 4.36 last year, 3.82 the season before and 2.14 in 2014).

The only qualified starter with a higher ERA in the major leagues this season than Hernandez is Lucas Giolito’s 6.08 ERA with the White Sox.

Hernandez said he stayed in his routine since shifting to the bullpen and maybe that has helped with his rhythm.

“The bullpen guys are out there playing catch on flat ground every day working on mechanical things and that’s probably a good thing for Felix,” Servais said. “Some guys say you need to throw less, sometimes you need to throw more and you get a better feel for your mechanics and where you’re at. That would be a good thing for him.”

But Servais said their dugout conversation was mostly about being on the same page, mechanically, with Hernandez.

“I wanted to see if he was making a conscious change mechanically and get his feedback on that,” Servais said. “Just seeing if my eyes were seeing something a little bit different. That’s all it was. Normal back and forth as he was coming out of the game. But the last three innings were really good.”

Segura returns

Mariners shortstop Jean Segura was back in the Mariners lineup after he was pulled after the fifth inning of their game Wednesday with some tightness in his upper rib cage.

Servais said Segura had dealt with the injury going into that game, but it flared up when he struck out in his final at-bat before being pulled for Andrew Romine.

Rotation schedule

Servais told reporters Friday that left-hander Wade LeBlanc would start Saturday’s game against the Diamondbacks and right-hander Mike Leake will re-enter the rotation after missing his last start with an illness to start Sunday’s game.

Both pitchers have spent most of their careers pitching in the National League, anyway. Leake has hit six career home runs and has 92 hits in 462 at-bats (.199 average) for his career at the plate and LeBlanc is a .246 hitter (29-for-118).

This story was originally published August 24, 2018 at 6:49 PM.