Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez’s rare grand slam-early exit combination did nothing to help fantasy owners on Monday night. He staked himself to a second-inning lead, off Johan Santana no less, then left in the fifth inning after spraining his ankle covering home plate. In most cases, owners got nothing for the slam and were left an out away from a valuable win.

The start would have only gotten better for Hernandez, who entered Monday’s contest on a four-start winning streak. Including his 4.2 innings and 1 earned run against the Mets, Hernandez has pitched to a 4-0 record, 1.36 ERA and 31 strikeouts in his last five outings (33 innings).

Hernandez has lacked the maturity to take full advantage of his immense talent. When he controls his emotions and controls his stuff, amazing things happen. When he runs into jams and lets things spiral out of control, he walks batters and allows home runs. Before pronouncing him a Cy Young contender, we still need to see how Hernandez can pitch through a little more adversity.

His ups and downs are documented best his current four-game winning streak … he started it immediately after snapping a five-game losing streak.

Fantasy Spin
The Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker reported on his Mariners blog that Hernandez’s ankle sprain was just mild, so it likely won’t cost him a start.

Dustin Hockensmith is editor of ImaginaryDiamond.com. He can be contacted at dhockensmith[at]fantasysports101.net.