Hernandez in pain after taking shot to arm

During a spring training filled with small nagging injuries, the Seattle Mariners believe they caught a fortunate break after starting pitcher Felix Hernandez took a line drive off his right arm.

Hernandez said Tuesday he is still very sore a day after a liner off the bat of the Chicago Cubs’ Victor Caratini hit Hernandez in the right forearm.

The injury happened in Hernandez’s first spring training start and left the right-hander feeling pain he’s rarely felt in his career.

“That hurt real bad. I can’t explain how bad it was. I didn’t feel anything like that before,” Hernandez said.

“I finished the pitch and I saw the ball coming and I said ‘Oh my God.’ And then my brother told me yesterday, ‘ Why didn’t you pick the ball up and throw it to first?’”

Hernandez was in too much pain to do anything but walk around in complete discomfort. Hernandez went down to a knee, hopped up and eventually was helped to the dugout with a trainer holding his arm. While it looked significant initially, X-rays were negative.

The ball caught Hernandez just below his right elbow, hitting directly on a star tattoo with “13” on the inside, signifying his all-star game selection in 2013.

Hernandez was still unable to fully straighten his right arm when he arrived in the clubhouse Tuesday because of the swelling in the area around his elbow.

Hernandez said Caratini reached out to him via social media.

“He sent me a DM on Instagram and (told) me he was sorry. I told him don’t worry about it and don’t try and hit it so hard up the middle,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez believed he would still be ready for the start of the season, saying he’ll start throwing as soon as he’s cleared.