Felix Hernandez will not pitch on Opening Day for the Seattle Mariners for the first time in more than a decade, and was visibly frustrated by that decision Sunday afternoon, following his third spring training start.
He declined to comment to reporters about the decision directly, but did acknowledge he was not surprised by it, and didn’t feel he could have changed it.
“I knew it was going to happen,” he said.
The Mariners announced Saturday that lefty Marco Gonzales, who has had an overall productive spring despite one shaky start Friday night, would get the nod when the Mariners open on March 20 in Japan against the Oakland A’s.