The 2026 Baseball Hall of Fame class will be revealed on Tuesday.
The 2026 class for the National Baseball Hall of Fame will be revealed on Tuesday night, and even though Seattle Mariners legend Felix Hernandez isn't likely to get in this year, he has made substantial progress on the ballot and there are real signs that he'll get in in the future.
Hernandez is in his second year on the ballot and received 20.6 percent of the vote in his first year.
As of this posting, Hernandez has received 56.9 percent of the vote (124 of 218 known ballots). There are still more than 200 ballots to be revealed, and Hernandez figures to see his overall percentage drop as a result of those, but it has been a great year for him regardless.
You need 75 percent of the vote to get into the Hall of Fame.
If he eventually gets in, he'll be the fourth Mariners player to get inducted into Cooperstown, joining Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez and Ichiro Suzuki. Ichiro was inducted in 2025.
About Hernandez
A 15-year veteran of the Mariners, Hernandez went 169-136 for his career, often propping up mediocre-to-bad M's teams with his performances. He had a 3.42 career ERA, but at his peak, he was one of the best pitchers in the sport. A six-time All-Star, Hernandez won a Cy Young (2010) and was a runner-up twice (2009, 2014). He threw a perfect game, started the All-Star Game and tossed an immaculate inning.
He led baseball in wins (19) in 2009 and led in ERA (2.27) in 2010. He made 30 starts or more 10 times in his career. He is already a member of the M's team Hall of Fame.
His candidacy lands at the intersection of an interesting debate about the past and future of the game. His win totals are low and his ERA is high, however, he tossed eight consecutive seasons of 200+ innings, which is something that is unheard of in today's game. He will likely get credit for being one of the last of a dying breed of dominant innings-eaters.
What the experts are saying
We had Buster Olney of ESPN on the 'Refuse to Lose' podcast in November of 2025, and he predicted that Hernandez would get in the Hall of Fame eventually:
I think he does, first and foremost. I think eventually he's going to make a speech in Cooperstown, he's going to be inducted in the Hall of Fame. I don't know when that's going to be, but this year, relative to other years, like last year when you had Ichiro, it's a thinner class. Like, you're not looking at it, saying, 'yeah, there are these six guys who are definitely Hall of Famers.' So if you're one of those guys who's kind of in the middle, it's a year for growth. And I don't think Felix will get in this year, but it wouldn't surprise me to see him jump in the 35% range, 40% range, and continue his march toward making that speech in Cooperstown.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!