Fixxing Felix

[bedir than average]

Help For Felix | KOMO 1000 News Radio - News, Weather and Sports - Seattle, WA Seattle, Washington | Headlines

You could tell early that the team was pushing the relationship as Miguel and Felix’s lockers were assigned next to each other in Arizona and Seattle. Miguel is a proud man and wanted to make it clear that he was not brought here just to baby sit. Despite that the two took to each other and could be seen together on the field for much of spring training. Miguel downplayed things saying that he was grateful to have Felix as he was new to the team and had no idea where to go or how the drills in the spring were run.

When we got back to Seattle and the season started I didn’t see much interaction between the two. This changed after what is now called Felix’s meltdown in Toronto. After the game John McLaren asked Miguel if he would talk to Felix. Yes, Felix has a manager and a pitching coach, but often teammates can be of great help when a player is struggling. Batista told Mac he wanted to let Felix cool down for a day then he would see what he could do.

The next day Miguel grabbed Felix and said “Let’s play catch.” The two have been throwing partners ever since. If you were to get to the stadium while the Mariners were taking batting practice you would see them talking and playing catch. You would also see Miguel get down in a catchers crouch to let Felix pitch to him. When warm up was over and the hitters were hitting you would see the two standing in right field talking, or more accurately, you would mostly see Miguel talking and Felix listening. I asked Miguel recently just what he was trying to do with Felix and here is what he told me.

Miguel has been a leader in every sense of the word. This is just another notch on that belt. Plus if Batista can teach Felix a little bit about how to behave as a Major Leaguer and use his fame to help the world, that too would be a good thing.