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Felix Hernandez heads to DL after 'dead arm' outing in Detroit

Blake Schuster
Yahoo Sports Contributor

Felix Hernandez lasted all of two innings on Tuesday night as the Detroit Tigers clobbered the Seattle Mariners, 19-9 at Comerica Park.

It took Hernandez 48 pitches to get six outs and he gave up six hits, four runs and two walks in the process. Seattle’s ace struck out just two. It was an ugly start to an ugly game. Now it seems there’s a bit more to the King’s performance. An injured shoulder.

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After the game, Hernandez flew back to Seattle to see a doctor after experiencing ‘dead arm’ on the mound. On Wednesday, the Mariners placed him on the 10-day disabled list because of shoulder inflammation. Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports King Felix’s time on the DL will actually be longer — at least two or three weeks.

Any time your best pitcher has shoulder issues, there’s going to be cause for concern. Couple that with the fact the Mariners are sitting last in a stacked American League West and it’s not hard to imagine things snowballing in the wrong direction for Seattle.

Hernandez has two wins in four starts so far in 2017. He’s given up just 10 runs in 24.2 innings while recording 20 strikeouts. Tuesday was Hernandez’s shortest outing since June 12, 2015 when the Houston Astros knocked him out of the game after giving up eight runs while recording just one out in Carlos Correa’s home debut.

King Felix Hernandez was pulled after two innings marking the shortest start of his career since June, 2015. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
King Felix Hernandez was pulled after two innings marking the shortest start of his career since June 2015. (AP)

The Mariners have received stellar pitching to start the year from James Paxton, but haven’t proven much depth beyond that. Losing Hernandez will now put enormous stress on a weak rotation.

Tuesday’s performance from the entire staff didn’t provide much of a confidence boost, either. The Tigers scored 19 runs on 24 hits and seven walks with just five strikeouts — including the two Hernandez earned before exiting the game.

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Blake Schuster is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!