Roberto Hernández (baseball)

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**Roberto Hernández**
Major League Baseball debut
Cleveland Indians — No. 39
Relief Pitcher
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
September 2, 1991 for the Chicago White Sox
Selected MLB statistics (through 2006)
Wins-Losses	64-68
Earned Run Average	3.32
Innings pitched	1025
Strikeouts	914
Saves	326
Former teams
Chicago White Sox (1991-1997) San Francisco Giants (1997) Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998-2000) Kansas City Royals (2001-2002) Atlanta Braves (2003) Philadelphia Phillies (2004) New York Mets (2005), (2006) Pittsburgh Pirates (2006) Cleveland Indians (2007-present) awards=1996 and 1999 American League All-Star

Roberto Manuel Hernández Rodríguez (b. November 11, 1964 in the Santurce district of San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a right-handed relief pitcher for the Cleveland Indians in Major League Baseball.

Hernández grew up in New York City and attended Chelsea Vocational School where he played baseball for three years. He also attended The New Hampton School in New Hampshire and the University of South Carolina at Aiken, which named their refurbished baseball field after him in 1993.

Hernández was selected by the California Angels as the 16th pick in the first round of the 1986 amateur draft. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1989. In 1991, while pitching for the Vancouver Canadians of the Pacific Coast League, Hernández experienced numbness in his pitching hand, later determined to be caused by blood clots. He was rushed into emergency surgery to have veins transplanted from his inner thigh to his forearm. The surgery was successful and he went on to make his major league debut as a starting pitcher against the Kansas City Royals on September 2 of that year.

Hernández has had a long and largely successful career as a relief pitcher in the major leagues. In 1993 he was instrumental in the White Sox' drive for the American League West Division pennant, going 2-1 with 21 saves in the second half of the season. He made four appearances in the American League Championship Series that year and pitched four scoreless innings.

In 1997, Hernández was traded to the San Francisco Giants as part of a nine-player deal and appeared in all three games of the National League Division Series against the Florida Marlins. After the season, he signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In 1999, he earned his career-high of 43 saves which is also a Devil Rays team record. His 43 saves were for a team that only won 69 games overall.

His performance level declined after being traded to the Kansas City Royals prior to the 2001 season. Since then, he has signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves in 2003, the Philadelphia Phillies in 2004 and the New York Mets in 2005. After 2002, he moved from being a closer to being a setup man, in which role he has generally flourished. He signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 2006 season. On July 31, 2006, Hernández was reacquired by the New York Mets along with pitcher Oliver Perez for outfielder Xavier Nady.

In early December 2006, Hernández was signed by the Cleveland Indians to a one-year contract for the 2007 season. Hernández will earn $3.5 million this season. The contract also contained a club option for the 2008 season worth $3.7 million. Roberto will be given the opportunity to compete for the club's closer role but most likely will be used as a 7th-8th inning setup man.

Hernández is married with four children and resides in Gulfport, Florida.