Felix Hernandez's Cy Young Candidacy Shut Down by Scared Seattle Mariners

Seattle Mariners manager Jack Zduriencik announced today that they are shutting down star pitcher Felix Hernandez for the rest of the season.

He’s only missing one start, but come on, Mariners—you can’t be serious.

I understand being cautious with your franchise cornerstone, but Hernandez is in the midst of a tight Cy Young race, and one more win could certainly push him into the lead.

In a season filled with such disappointment for the Mariners, you would think they would let Hernandez make one more statement to Cy Young voters, giving him a chance to finally give Mariners fans something to smile about.

Unfortunately, writers will have a lot of difficulty voting for a pitcher with a 13-12 record, regardless of the fact that he has pitched 30 quality starts out of a possible 34.

Hernandez also leads AL starters in innings pitched (249.2), strikeouts (232), ERA (2.27), and WHIP (1.06).

In past years, King Felix wouldn’t have a chance of capturing the award, but in today’s modern game, dominated by sabermetrics and analytical stats, all of which favor Hernandez, maybe he can pull it off.

I certainly think he deserves it.

One more start would certainly help his case, though.

What do you think, did the Mariners make the right decision, and will he win the Cy Young anyway?

Matt Rudnitsky is a student at the University of Michigan and a writing intern at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Mattrud