No place like home: Jose Fernandez still unbeaten at Marlins Park

Forget Wrigley Field, for Miami pitcher Jose Fernandez Marlins Park is the true Friendly Confines. In a win over the Reds on Thursday Fernandez improved to a 14-0 at home in his career, with a 1.17 earned-run average.

Fernandez is in his third season in the big leagues but due to injuries has made just 38 career starts. Twenty-two of those have been at home and he’s never taken a loss. His 22 home starts without a loss is the best start to a career since 1914. The only other pitcher to win his first 14 home decisions was Johnny Allen of the Yankees over the 1932 and ’33 seasons.

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We talk a lot around here about pitcher wins being an antiquated stat, but the fact is every time Fernandez takes the mound at home the Marlins have a great chance of winning. In his eight no-decisions the Marlins are still 5-3, so since 2013 the Marlins are 19-3 when Fernandez starts a game at home. That’s no fluke.

Thursday’s win was Fernandez’s second start of the season since returning from Tommy John surgery which forced him to miss 14 months of action. The 2013 NL rookie of the year is happy to be back, and so are the Marlins.

“The young Cuban defector has been a fan favorite in Miami since his rookie season in 2013. He was enthusiastically supported by the crowd of 25,027, larger than normal for the attendance-challenged Marlins.

”It was fantastic. I love it,” he said. “Sometimes I look in the stands and see the kids laughing and saying my name, and it’s really special. Knowing everything I’ve been through, I really appreciate it.”

For the record, on the road Fernandez is 4-8 with a 3.93 ERA.

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