'King Felix' handling weight of expectations

	After posting a fat 4.95 ERA in the first half last season, Felix Hernandez showed up to camp 20 pounds lighter this season. Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images
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PEORIA, Ariz. -- Seattle Mariners ace-in-waiting Felix Hernandez went from overhyped to flat-out forgotten faster than your typical reality TV star, the ubiquitous Boston Rob and Amber notwithstanding.

Last season, the then-19-year-old Hernandez was supposed to take his place among the game's pantheon of great phenoms. The comparisons with Dwight Gooden were unavoidable after Hernandez, during a late-season callup in 2005, became the first teenager since Doc to strike out 10 batters in a game. Before that, it hadn't been done since Bert Blyleven in 1970.

But something happened to King Felix during his ascension to the American League pitching throne: He got hit. Hard. "Tattooed" might be a better way of describing how AL hitters were teeing off on the pudgy young hurler with the blazing fastball, nasty curve and Bugs Bunny changeup, an assortment of pitches that teammate Jarrod Washburn says "every pitcher dreams of having."

This was Hernandez's stat line after 12 starts: 69 1/3 innings, 79 hits, 25 walks, 68 strikeouts, 11 HR, 5.32 ERA, 5-6 record.

To his credit, he made adjustments, pitching more to contact and cutting down on the gopherballs. The stats in his final 19 starts: 121 2/3 innings, 116 hits, 35 walks, 108 strikeouts, 12 HR, 4.07 ERA, 7-8 record.

Better, but still not great. Not regal, by any means, and nowhere near enough to be raved about along the same lines as rookie phenoms Justin Verlander, Jonathan Papelbon, Jered Weaver and Francisco Liriano. But it was an improvement nonetheless.

"I saw him learn how to pitch a little bit more, not try to strike everybody out," teammate Willie Bloomquist said on Wednesday. "Toward the end of the year he was getting a lot of first-, second- and third-pitch outs whereas earlier in the year he was getting late in every count. At this level, everybody can hit a fastball."

Said catcher Kenji Johjima: "Everyone struggles at some point during their lifetime in baseball. For Felix, being able to go through that period when he is still young is something that will be good for him in the long run."

Fast forward to Wednesday afternoon on a beautiful Arizona day, where Hernandez was making his second start of the spring, against Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants. Though it's hard to gauge anything of significance out of a spring training game, it was clearly a different King Felix out on the mound, and not just because he lost 20 pounds during the offseason. (At 246 pounds last year, he had to deal with shin splints.)

He blew through the first inning in six pitches, and kept plugging along on the same, even keel -- even after giving up a leadoff home run to Randy Winn in the second inning. In the third, he froze Bonds with a high curveball to strike him out. Hernandez got through three innings on 35 pitches, 25 of them strikes.

After the game, he explained his simple, new philosophy on pitching: "Get ahead, work real fast, make my pitch. If my two-seamer's working, they will hit ground balls."

The weight around his midsection is history, but the weight of expectations haven't gone anywhere, not with the Mariners trying to get out of the cellar for the first time since 2003 and the front office coming up empty in its attempt to land another front-of-the-rotation starter. This time, though, the boy king is handling the burden much better.

"I forgot about last year. It's a new year. People who expect a lot from me, they're going to see a lot this year," said Hernandez, who has been tabbed as the Opening Day starter.

Said Washburn: "Giving him the nickname 'King' and stuff, a lot of times media puts too much pressure on young guys. But he handled it well, and he's a better pitcher now because of it."

It might be one year later than we figured, but it looks like the King may arrive in Seattle after all. Hopefully he can remain in the limelight even longer than Boston Rob and Am-bah.