It isn’t a complete surprise to see King Felix on the mound on Monday night. Hernandez will be making his club-record 10th Opening Day start and ninth in a row for Seattle, the longest active streak in the majors. The right-hander is 6-1 with a 1.49 ERA in those openers, but was just 0-2 (8.10 ERA) in two starts against the Astros last year. Age might be finally catching up with the Venezuelan who already has logged 2,415 innings on his famous arm. Hernandez’s average fastball velocity last season, according to Fangraphs, hit a career-low 90.5 mph.
Seattle’s pitching may be a big concern, but for the first time in a very long time, the Mariners enter the 2017 season with reasonable expectations of having an above-average offense. The Mariners offense, which ranked third in the American League in runs scored last season, has been further boosted by the arrival of Jean Segura. The Dominican Republic native comes to Seattle off a year in which he hit .319 with an .867 OPS, 20 home runs and 64 RBIs.
He will join the trio of Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager and Nelson Cruz at the top of Seattle’s batting order. Cano, Seager and Cruz were sensational for the Mariners last season, each posting an OPS over .850 with at least 30 homers and 99 RBIs last campaign.
The Mariners are 3-1 in their last four games against the Astros. Seattle is pegged at +1,000to win the American League pennant this year.
The one tasked to stop that vaunted Seattle offense on Monday night is Dallas Keuchel. He will be making his third straight Opening Day start for Houston. Keuchel hurled seven shutout innings to beat Cleveland in 2015 and went seven innings to beat the Bronx Bombers last year. Like King Felix, though, Keuchel had his fair share of struggles last season. The left-hander went just 9-12 with 4.55 ERA last year.
Keuchel’s poor record can be attributed to the fact that he pitched all of last season with shoulder pain. With Keuchel back to full fitness, the Astros hope that he can rediscover the form that netted him the Cy Young award in 2015. He’ll have his work cut out for him, however, against the Mariners’ three-headed monster of Cano, Seager and Cruz. The trio is a combined 26-of-85 (.306) against Keuchel with five homers and 12 RBIs.
The Astros are 5-2 in their last seven home games against the Mariners. Houston’s odds of winning the AL West are priced at +115.
