King Felix chasing Hall of Fame: I have numbers that 'need to tick up'

Baltimore Orioles right-hander Felix Hernandez has his sights set on baseball immortality

"The Hall of Fame," Hernandez said Thursday when asked about what keeps him motivated to pitch, according to Joe Trezza of MLB.com. "I think I have a shot, but I have a few numbers that need to tick up. If I get to those goals, I think I have a good shot at the Hall of Fame."

Hernandez, 34, enters his 16th season with 2,425 career strikeouts and 169 wins. There are 18 pitchers who have reached the 3,000-strikeout club in MLB history -14 of them are enshrined in Cooperstown.

The six-time All-Star joined the Orioles on a minor-league contract in early February. He didn't pitch in 2020 due to the pandemic after suiting up for the Seattle Mariners for 15 years from 2005-19.

Hernandez, who won the 2010 AL Cy Young Award, owns a career 3.42 ERA with a 1.20 WHIP. However, he went 15-27 with a 5.42 ERA over 60 games (59 starts) during his last three campaigns with the Mariners.

"Those years in Seattle, I wasn't healthy, I was going through a lot of injuries and I wasn't having fun," Hernandez said. "Right now, I feel really, really good. I'm ready to go."