The Miami Marlins‘ Jose Fernandez twirled seven shutout innings on Sunday in a 1-0 victory over the New York Mets, scattering four hits, no walks and matching a career high with 14 strikeouts.
The proper response? An appreciative nod.
Fernandez has been that kind of pitcher lately—a force of nature from whom we expect nothing but dominance every five days.
After two seasons marred by injury and inconsistency, that’s good news for Fernandez, even better news for Miami and great news for the rest of us.
Squaring off against the Mets’ Matt Harvey, who is on something of a comeback roll himself, Fernandez displayed his full arsenal of mid-90s fastballs and sharp, bat-missing breaking balls. He was sweating but rarely seemed to lose his cool as he befuddled one New York hitter after another.
That’s been the norm for Fernandez. He’s 8-0 over his last eight starts and has allowed eight earned runs with 78 strikeouts in 52 innings during that stretch.
After wobbling through much of April and finishing the month with a 4.08 ERA, Fernandez found his groove in May, joining an elite fraternity that counts Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens as its only other members, per ESPN Stats & Info:
He now leads the majors with 110 strikeouts—one more than the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ Clayton Kershaw—and has lowered his ERA to 2.29.
Whiffs aren’t the only measure of a pitcher, but it’s worth noting that Fernandez’s current strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate of 13.26 would be the second-best of all time behind Randy Johnson’s 13.41 in 2001 if he kept it up for the entire season, per Baseball-Reference.com (via CBS Sports’ Matt Snyder).
On Sunday, he set the Marlins franchise record for career double-digit strikeout games. The Marlins have only been around since 1993, but that’s still impressive, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo noted:
Fernandez, a first-round pick in 2011, flashed this limitless potential in 2013 and won National League Rookie of the Year honors in the process.
Then, in 2014, Tommy John surgery derailed his ascent. He made 11 starts last year and posted a 2.92 ERA. But an offseason of trade rumors and clashes with the Marlins brass muddied the waters.
Then came the slow start to 2016.
Now, Fernandez is back to being Fernandez. On Sunday, that was good enough to defeat the Dark Knight.
“I’m trying more to just worry about a pitch at a time and not think of who I’m pitching against,” Fernandez said after beating the Mets, per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro and DiComo. “Obviously, with all due respect, Harvey was throwing the ball great. It’s fun to see him out there, throwing the ball hard, making good pitches. We came out on top today, and I’m really happy about it.”
With the win, the Fish moved to 30-27, two games back of the Mets and four behind the first-place Washington Nationals in the NL East.
The drama-attracting Marlins have already endured some adversity this season, most notably in the form of Dee Gordon’s 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension.
If Fernandez keeps pitching like an ace among aces, though, it’ll push those distractions to the background and help keep Miami in the postseason picture.
Concerns about Fernandez’s durability won’t disappear until he pitches a full season. After throwing 172.2 innings in 2013, the 23-year-old has logged fewer than 200 frames in the two-and-a-half seasons since. And he’s throwing his slider more than ever before, as ESPN.com’s Mark Simon pointed out; it’s a pitch that can wear on an arm.
Manager Don Mattingly said the plan is to keep Fernandez in “the 180 [inning] range” this season, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
Mattingly declined to say whether that would mean skipping a few starts at some point. Most likely, the Marlins will cross that bridge when they come to it.
On the bright side, Fernandez won’t turn 24 until July 31. His prime is on the horizon. What he’s doing now might be merely a preview of coming attractions, a thought that should leave opposing hitters quaking in their cleats.
Fernandez’s occasionally fiery temperament may have contributed to his up-and-down relationship with the Marlins front office, but it’s also what fuels him as a player, as Miami hitting coach Barry Bonds explained.
“I like his personality, though some people might think it’s a little harsh,” said Bonds, who knows a thing or two about personality clashes, per Martin Fennelly of the Tampa Bay Times. “But when he’s not that person, he’s not the same pitcher. If he’s not out there trying to rip your head off, that’s not him, that’s not his approach.”
The trick is harnessing that emotion and making it work for you. Marry that to some of the best raw stuff in the game, and you have a ceiling that extends far beyond the retractable roof at Marlins Park.
Even if your rooting interests lie somewhere other than South Beach, this should make you happy.
Jose Fernandez is excellent at throwing baseballs. And we get to watch him do it, then sit back with an appreciative nod.
All statistics current as of June 5 and courtesy of MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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