Roberto Hernández

Roberto Hernández Heredia (born August 30, 1980) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Tampa Bay Rays, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, and Atlanta Braves.

Hernández was a regular part of the Indians' starting rotation for six years under the name of Fausto Carmona, which he had used to obtain a visa to pitch in the United States. After Hernández’s true name and age were revealed (he was three years older than he claimed), Hernández missed much of the 2012 season due to lack of a valid visa, followed by a suspension from MLB for identity fraud. He returned to the league in 2013 with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Coincidentally, while playing as Fausto Carmona for the Cleveland Indians in 2007, Hernández had a teammate whose name was also Roberto Hernández.

Professional career Minor leagues Hernández (as Carmona) was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cleveland Indians on December 28, 2000. In 2003, he compiled a record of 17–4 with a 2.06 ERA in 24 starts for the Single-A Lake County Captains. This led to him being honored as the Most Outstanding Player of the South Atlantic League, receiving All-Star honors both for the South Atlantic League and for all of Class-A, and he was named the Indians' 2003 Minor League Player of the Year (receiving the "Lou Boudreau Award"). He split 2004 between the Single-A Kinston Indians of the Carolina League and the Double-A Akron Aeros of the Eastern League. Combined, he was 10–10 with a 4.09 ERA in 28 starts.

On July 20, 2006, the Indians traded closer Bob Wickman to the Atlanta Braves, and the Indians chose Hernández to fill the role. In the span of seven days (from July 30 through August 5), Hernández recorded four losses and three blown saves for the Indians, including walk-off home runs surrendered to Boston's David Ortiz and Detroit's Iván Rodríguez. Hernández lost the closer role to Tom Mastny soon thereafter.

After the closer experiment, Hernández was demoted to Triple-A Buffalo on August 26, where he was placed back in a starting role. He was promoted to Cleveland again in September, and finished the season as a starter. Hernández ended the 2006 season with a record of 1–10 and a 5.42 ERA in 38 games (seven starts).

In , Hernández was originally slated to be the Indians' spot starter and to begin the season with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. However, after Cliff Lee went down with an abdominal strain in spring training that would force him to miss at least the first three weeks of the season, the Indians gave Hernández the opportunity to start in Lee's place. In Hernández's first start of the season, on April 13, the Chicago White Sox battered him for six earned runs in innings.

Hernández quickly rebounded, however, holding the New York Yankees' potent offense to just two runs in six innings in his next start on April 19. He received a no decision, however, when Joe Borowski allowed six runs in the ninth inning to give the Yankees the win. Hernández settled into a groove and won his next five starts, allowing just six earned runs over 39 innings. During this streak, Hernández beat two-time American League Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins twice and pitched his first career complete game shutout. After one of these wins, Minnesota center fielder Torii Hunter was quoted as saying, "I can't wait until we face normal pitchers. This guy's sinker is practically unhittable."

On July 25, Hernández tossed eight shutout innings against the Boston Red Sox in a 1–0 Indians win. The victory improved his record to 5–0 in July. On October 20, Hernández was battered by the Red Sox at Fenway Park in Game 6 of the 2007 ALCS, surrendering seven runs in two plus innings, including a first-inning grand slam by J.D. Drew. The Indians would go on to lose the game and the series, despite having led the series three games to one.

Hernández received serious consideration for the AL Cy Young award, along with teammate CC Sabathia, Boston's Josh Beckett, and the Angels' John Lackey. He ultimately finished fourth in 2007 AL Cy Young voting.

Hernández started the 2008 season off strong, going 4–2 with a 3.10 ERA in his first eight starts. On May 23, he left his start against the Texas Rangers with a left hip strain after running to cover first base. Hernández was placed on the disabled list the next day, where he remained for two months before making his return to the starting rotation on July 26.

On September 19 against Detroit, Hernández hit Gary Sheffield with a pitch. The two exchanged words as Sheffield walked to first base with his bat tucked under this arm. Before the next pitch, Hernández made a pick-off throw to first base. Sheffield again started exchanging words with Hernández, and this time charged the mound, inducing a bench-clearing brawl. Hernández was seen landing several punches to Sheffield's head, which left him bloodied. Hernández and Sheffield were both ejected, along with Indians catcher Víctor Martínez and Tigers second baseman Plácido Polanco. Hernández was suspended six games for his role in the brawl.

Hernández had a subpar 2009 season, starting 24 games for Cleveland, going 5–12 with 6.32 ERA. He struck out 79 batters in innings. In 2010, Hernández improved dramatically from 2009 and was honored with his first All Star selection. He had a 13–14 record with a 3.77 ERA, while striking out 124 batters in innings.

In front of a sellout crowd of 41,721 fans at Cleveland's ballpark Progressive Field, Hernández started the 2011 season for the Indians. Hernández posted the worst opening day start in Major League history, as he became the first starting pitcher in 60 years to allow 10 runs in a team's first game. Hernández was the losing pitcher as he threw 88 pitches over three innings, in which he allowed 11 hits, two home runs, one walk, and 10 earned runs before leaving the game with an earned run average of 30.00. The last pitcher to allow 10-plus runs in an opener was Early Wynn of the Washington Senators, who accomplished the feat on April 19, 1948. In that game, Wynn surrendered 12 runs but managed to pitch innings.

On July 16, 2012, Hernández was granted a visa to work in the U.S. On July 21, he began serving a three-week suspension delivered by the MLB for age and identity fraud. While he served the suspension, Hernandez was allowed to pitch simulated games and in the minors. He rejoined the Indians on August 11. Hernández started his first game since 2011 on August 15 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, allowing eight runs (five earned) on 10 hits in six innings in the 8–4 loss. He ended the season 0–3 with a 7.53 ERA in innings. He was named their number five starter before the 2013 season. Hernández recorded his first career win under his real name on April 21, allowing one run in six innings while striking out seven in an 8–1 victory over the Oakland Athletics. On July 30, Hernández recorded his first complete game with the Rays, a 5–2 defeat of the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 32 games (24 starts) with the Rays, he finished 6–13 with one save and a 4.89 ERA. After five starts, during which he compiled a 5.81 ERA, he was available to pitch out of the bullpen, as off days meant the Phillies would not need him for over a week. Around that time, Phillies analyst Ricky Bottalico commented, "All in all, I like what I've seen from Roberto Hernández early in the ball games, but it's seems to be fourth, fifth, sixth innings, you're seeing a laboring guy out there. The one thing he's got to do is relax himself. It seems like he's trying to be a little too fine with his pitches. When you do that as a pitcher and you're not relaxed, you're going to make mistakes ... one thing he can do is take a deep breath. Getting deeper into games is getting tougher and tougher for him." Subsequently, he rebounded, and in 23 appearances (20 starts) with the Phillies, he posted a 6–8 record with an ERA of 3.87.

Los Angeles Dodgers On August 7, 2014, Hernández was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for either two players to be named later or cash considerations (the players turned out to be minor leaguers Jesmuel Valentín and Víctor Arano). He made his first start as a Dodger the next day, allowing two runs in six innings against the Milwaukee Brewers. Hernández started nine games for the Dodgers, with a 2–3 record and 4.74 ERA. He had his contract selected to the major leagues on April 4. He was designated for assignment on July 29 to make room for Jed Lowrie, who was activated from the disabled list. At the time, Hernández was 3–5 with a 4.36 ERA in 20 games (11 starts).

Toronto Blue Jays On December 18, 2015, Hernández signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays that included an invitation to spring training and a March 28 opt-out. Had he made the team out of spring training, the contract would have paid Hernández $1.25 million for the 2016 season. He signed another minor league contract with the Jays on April 20, and was to report to extended spring training. Hernández was assigned to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on April 27, and released on July 3.

Atlanta Braves On July 15, 2016, Hernández signed a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves. He was added to the Braves roster on August 6, and designated for assignment on August 12 after making two starts (1–1, 8.00 ERA). On October 4, 2016, Hernández elected free agency. The Indians placed Hernández on the restricted list. Officials in both countries received assistance in the case from a woman in the Dominican Republic who claimed she falsified a birth certificate for Hernández in exchange for $26,000, but when Hernández's father failed to pay her, she contacted the authorities.

While he was known as Fausto Carmona, his birth date was given as December 7, 1983, which would have made him old at the time of his MLB debut. Since being known by his real name, his birth date has been listed as August 30, 1980, by ESPN.com, and Retrosheet. That birth date indicates that he was actually old at the time of his MLB debut.