Ace taking shape for Mariners

The new Felix Hernandez — "a leaner, better version than we've seen in the past," gushed manager Mike Hargrove — unveiled himself Wednesday.

For Mariners officials, the first sight of Hernandez after his arrival this week from Venezuela bordered on a religious experience.

"When I saw him today, I was stunned," general manager Bill Bavasi said.

"I just saw him," added Hargrove. "Last year, he looked like a baby. He looked like a kid — from the look in his eye, the way he carried himself, the composition of his body. All that is different. When you see him, you'll know. You'll see a difference in his face, in his eyes."

The gathered media, on hand for the Mariners' annual spring-training luncheon, refrained from audible gasps when King Felix, the young right-handed pitcher, strolled to the podium. But the advance buzz over his new physique proved to be right on the mark.

The man is ripped. The pudginess that led to worries he was morphing into another Bartolo Colon has been transformed into solid muscle. After admittedly reporting to camp out of shape last spring, and paying a steep price for it, Hernandez resolved to not make the same mistake this year.

At the end of last season, the Mariners implored him to watch his diet this winter and follow their workout guidelines. After taking two weeks off at home in Venezuela immediately after the season, at the team's behest, Hernandez set to work.

"I was running, I was in the gym," he said. "I ate better than last year — vegetables, no fast food. I worked very hard."

The raw numbers tell the story. According to trainer Rick Griffin, Hernandez weighed in Tuesday at 226 pounds. Last February, he reported to camp at 246 pounds — 16 pounds over his target weight.

"I will admit I did not come in that good shape last year," Hernandez said, and then added with a wink, "Not this year.

"I learned last year, you have to get ready in the offseason. You have to get ready for spring training. When you're not in shape, it's more difficult to pitch in the big leagues."

It's not as if Hernandez was horrible last year in his first full major-league season. But Hargrove believes that Hernandez's extra weight and lack of conditioning led to the shin splints that wiped out his final two spring starts.

And that, in turn, likely led to his slow start. Through May, Hernandez had a 6.31 earned-run average, but he finished at 4.52 to go with a 12-14 record and 176 strikeouts in 191 innings.

The Mariners are again buzzing with the same visions of brilliance that marked his explosive entree into the majors in 2005.

"He's just in a good mindset right now," Griffin said. "He wants to go out and prove, not only to himself but to everybody, that the things that have been written and said about him can come true."

John McLaren, returning to the Seattle organization as Hargrove's bench coach, said he plans to challenge Hernandez to be better than two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana.

Bavasi pointed out that sometimes young phenoms sincerely believe they are in top shape, because their level of conditioning had always been good enough to dominate in the minors. It's how they react to their rude awakening that determines their future.

"His heart is in the right place, and his heart was in the right place then," Bavasi said. "He just made a mistake. That's part of a 19-year-old coming to camp. You don't see this guy make mistakes twice. He is so special."

Last year, the Mariners resolved to hold Hernandez under 200 innings, including spring training. But Bavasi indicated that they are ready to take off the restraints. Hernandez turns 21 on April 8.

"It's a different day with this boy," Bavasi said. "Last year, it was real easy to say we were going to hold him to 200 innings. If we take that approach now, you guys [the media] will probably slit my throat."

Bavasi added that it's likely Hargrove will focus more on maintaining pitch counts in games than on limiting total innings.

"We'll take the best care of him we can, because he has the whole world in front of him," Bavasi said. "But he'd be a tough guy to look in the face and say, 'We're going to hold you to 200 innings.' "

Asked about his workload, Hernandez gestured to Bavasi and said, "That's the one that makes the decision ... If they want to keep my innings low, it's not my fault."

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com