Carlos Eduardo Hernández (born March 11, 1997) is a Venezuelan professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2020.

Career

Kansas City Royals

Hernández signed with the

as an international free agent on July 19, 2016, for a $15,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He spent his professional debut season of 2017 with the

Burlington Royals The Burlington Royals were a minor league baseball team in Burlington, North Carolina, United States. They were a Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League. The team was affiliated with the Cleveland Indians from 1986 to 2006 as the Burlington ...

, pitching to a 1–4

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

with a 5.49

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) and 62

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s over innings. He played for the

Lexington Legends The Lexington Legends are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Legends have ...

in 2018, going 6–5 with a 3.29 ERA and 82 strikeouts over innings. Hernández suffered a stress fracture in his rib cage during spring training in 2019 and did not make his season debut until June 21. He split the 2019 season between the rookie-level

Arizona League Royals The Arizona Complex League Royals are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The team is compose ...

, Burlington, and Lexington, going a combined 3–5 with a 5.31 ERA and 68 strikeouts over innings. On November 20, 2019, the Royals added Hernández to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. On September 1, 2020, Hernández was promoted to the major leagues for the first time and made his debut that day against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

, pitching scoreless innings. Hernández appeared in five games for the 2020 Royals, compiling an 0–1 record, 4.91 ERA, and 13 strikeouts in innings pitched. In 2021, he had a 6–2 record, 3.68 ERA, and 74 strikeouts in innings for Kansas City. Hernández made 27 appearances (7 starts) for the Royals during the 2022 campaign, struggling to an 0-5 record and 7.39 ERA with 35 strikeouts over 56 innings of work. In 2023, he pitched in 67 contests for Kansas City, logging a 1-10 record and 5.27 ERA with 77 strikeouts and 4 saves across 70 innings. Hernández made 27 appearances out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

for Kansas City during the 2024 season, compiling an 0-1 record and 3.30 ERA with 27 strikeouts across 30 innings pitched.

Philadelphia Phillies

On March 23, 2025, Hernández was claimed off of outright waivers by the

. He made 25 appearances for Philadelphia, posting a 1–0 record and 5.26 ERA with 23 strikeouts across innings pitched. Hernández was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

by the Phillies on June 11.

Detroit Tigers

On June 16, 2025, Hernández was claimed off waivers by the

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, Carlos 1997 births Living people Arizona League Royals players Baseball players from Bolívar (state) Burlington Royals players Detroit Tigers players Kansas City Royals players Leones del Caracas players Lexington Legends players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Omaha Storm Chasers players Philadelphia Phillies players Sportspeople from Ciudad Guayana Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States 21st-century Venezuelan sportsmen 2023 World Baseball Classic players