HOUSTON — Felix Hernandez starting on opening day is a given for the Seattle Mariners. As the team’s longtime ace and the face of the franchise, he should be locked into that first start of any season barring injury.

On Monday, he will jog to the mound at Minute Maid Field to throw the first official pitch of a Mariners season for the 10th time in his career and ninth consecutive season.

“It’s always an honor to be an opening-day starter,” he said. “I’ve done it a few times and I like the challenge.”

That honor has never grown stale.

“It’s still special,” Hernandez said. “It’s a new season. A lot of eyes watching you and a lot of people have been watching me. It feels pretty good. It doesn’t make me feel old, just good.”

It should have been 11 straight years, but for some reason then-manager John McLaren thought it would be a good idea to start the recently acquired and enigmatic Erik Bedard in the 2008 season. It embittered Hernandez and overwhelmed Bedard, offering a sign of the mistakes and failures yet to come in that abysmal 101-loss season.

But for all of those season-opening starts, there has never been more questions or doubts surrounding Hernandez before he made that first outing.

Why?

Hernandez is coming off possibly his worst season of his career by multiple measures, including Fangraphs WAR (1.0), walk percentage (9.9), strikeout percentage (18.6) and Fielding Independent Pitching (4.63). His 3.82 earned-run average was the third highest of his career.

It was also the first time, since his debut year of 2005, when he was called up in August, where he didn’t throw at least 190 innings. Thanks to a six-week stint on the disabled list for a calf injury, he threw just 153 1/3 innings and made just 25 starts.

Even when Hernandez was healthy last season, he dealt with the lack of fastball command, hitters refusing to swing at his changeup out of the zone and mechanical issues that made consistency impossible.

The Mariners challenged him this offseason to recommit to a new  training regimen, which he did. Motivated by his failures in 2016 and also wanting to prepare to pitch in the World Baseball Classic, Hernandez followed the advice of Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano to work out with their trainer — “Iron Glenn” Freeman.

He added muscle to his frame, strengthening his legs and core, which everyone believed would help him repeat his delivery more consistently and give him more stamina.

“I feel stronger and I feel much better with my legs,” he said. “I’m able to keep my balance better. My mechanics feel good.”

Hernandez has looked better this spring. While Cactus League games are shrugged off for good reason, his performance vs. the United States in the World Baseball Classic offered some hope for what he could be this season. Hernandez worked five shutout innings, allowing three hits with three strikeouts and no walks. But more importantly it was how he got those outs. He pitched to contact and showed more efficiency than he has in the past. The Mariners have stressed to him that flooding the strike zone early instead of nibbling on the corners and falling behind is optimal. And also understanding that strikeouts, while a good thing, aren’t beneficial if it takes eight pitches to achieve the result.

“You get ahead in the count, throw a fastball low and away and take a fly ball to right field — that works, too,” manager Scott Servais said. “I love the King’s (Court). I get all that. But the minute those people get on their feet and start screaming for a strikeout — he’s human. I would probably do the same thing. Try to give them what they want.”

And yet, that isn’t always the best thing for Hernandez or his pitch count, which is something that Servais and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre have preached to him.

“He’s understanding that and hopefully coming to a point in his career that, ‘You know what? I’ll just get this guy out. It might get me deeper into the game and I might win a few more games because now I’m pitching in the seventh and eighth vs. out of there in the sixth,’ ” Servais said. “It’s a big deal for us.”

Hernandez said he wants to follow that plan as much as possible.

“That’s really important,” he said. “Sometimes I’m trying to be too nasty and I get in trouble. I get into a lot of 3-2 counts and my pitch count gets up. I need to pitch to contact, be around the zone and get a lot of soft contact.”

Hernandez knows he didn’t have a great season in 2016, but he shrugs off discussion of his demise.

“I’m still me,” he said. “I’m just going to pitch the way I pitch every year.”

The Mariners would welcome a return to a level of success that Hernandez has previously shown even as recently as two seasons ago.

“I’m anxious,” Servais said on Sunday before the Mariners workout in Houston. “Anxious for him and anxious for us. I know he’s worked his tail off this winter. He’s adjusted and grasped a hold of the things we’ve talked about with him, maybe changing his style. But it’s still going to be Felix in being very flamboyant and very competitive with great stuff. We’re trying to change how he sequences his pitches and how he’s going after lineups — hopefully a little bit different and hopefully a little different result.”

Hernandez is looking for a different result from the season — specifically playing in the postseason for the first time in his career. He invoked the Mariners’ team slogan that was plastered throughout their clubhouse in Arizona and will likely be displayed prominently in their clubhouse at Safeco Field.

“Whatever it takes,” he said, “Whatever it takes to be in the playoffs and have a great year for us. We’re looking pretty good. I have a lot of confidence in all the guys in the clubhouse. We’re ready to roll.”