Liván Hernández

Liván Hernández
Hernández with the New York Mets during spring training in 2009.
Free Agent — No. --
Starting pitcher
Born: February 20, 1975 (1975-02-20) (age 34) Villa Clara, Cuba
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 24, 1996 for the Florida Marlins
Career statistics (through 2009)
Win-Loss	156-151
Earned run average	4.45
Strikeouts	1,715
Teams
Florida Marlins (1996-1999) San Francisco Giants (1999-2002) Montréal Expos/Washington Nationals (2003-2006) Arizona Diamondbacks (2006-2007) Minnesota Twins (2008) Colorado Rockies (2008) New York Mets (2009) Washington Nationals (2009)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (1997) 2x All-Star (2004 & 2005) NL Championship Series MVP (1997) World Series MVP Award (1997) 3x league leader in innings pitched (2003, 2004, 2005) 2x league leader in complete games (2003 & 2004) Silver Slugger Award winner (2004)

Hernández pitching for the Colorado Rockies in 2008.

Eisler Liván Hernández Carrera (Spanish pronunciation: [liˈβan erˈnandes]; born February 20, 1975, in Villa Clara, Cuba) is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball, who is currently a free agent. He is the half-brother of pitcher Orlando "El Duque" Hernández.

Playing career

Hernández defected to the United States from Cuba in 1995, and has played with the Florida Marlins (1996-1999), San Francisco Giants (1999-2002), Montreal Expos (2003–2004) the Washington Nationals (formerly Montreal Expos) (2005-2006), the Arizona Diamondbacks (2006-2007), the Minnesota Twins, the Colorado Rockies (2008), and the New York Mets (2009). He bats and throws right-handed, and is known for often throwing a "slow hook," sometimes going even below 60 miles per hour, as a strikeout pitch.

A two-time All-Star, Hernández is considered to be a great defensive pitcher, having made just 11 errors in his career. He is described as a workhorse; he throws many pitches, pitches many innings, and makes every start he needs to in order to provide his team's bullpen much rest. Between 1998 and 2007, he never pitched fewer than 199 innings in any given season (in 1999 he threw "only" 199 2/3 innings). He led the National League in innings pitched in three consecutive seasons, 2003 through 2005, and led the league in complete games for the first two of those years. In 2005, he once threw 150 pitches in nine innings, although the game went into extra innings after he left. In 2004 and 2005, he led the major leagues with 3,927 and 4,009 pitches, respectively. Hernández also is a dangerous hitter, helping his own cause with the bat, and won the Silver Slugger award at the pitcher position in 2004.

After the 2005 season, he had knee surgery, and his performance in the first half of 2006 suffered. At the All-Star break, he had a 5.64 ERA and allowed hitters a .308 average. But over his last five starts with the Nationals, he had a 3.27 ERA with four walks and 23 strikeouts. [1]

On August 7, 2006, Hernandez was traded from the Nationals to the Diamondbacks for two young pitching prospects, Matt Chico and Garrett Mock.

Livan led the majors in home runs allowed in 2007, with 34, and had the lowest strikout:walk ratio in the majors (1.14)..

Minnesota Twins

On February 12, 2008, Hernandez signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Twins worth $5 million, with an additional $2 million for performance bonuses.

Through July 20, 2008, Hernandez led Minnesota Twins starting pitchers with 10 wins and 127.2 IP. ^[1][2] He was 10-6 with 5.29 ERA and 47 strikeouts^[3] On August 1, 2008, Hernandez was designated for assignment to make room for Francisco Liriano.

Colorado Rockies

On August 6, Hernandez was claimed off waivers by the Colorado Rockies, and had a record of 3-3 with 13 strikeouts in 40.1 innings and finished the 2008 season there.

Hernandez ended 2008 having given up 12.9 hits per 9 innings, the highest rate in the majors, had a major-league-worst .342 batting-average-against, and his 3.4 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched were the lowest rate in the major leagues.[2] [3] Batters also made contact with his pitches 91.3% of the time that they swung at them, easily the highest percentage among major league starters.[4]

New York Mets

On February 14, 2009, Hernández signed a minor league deal with the New York Mets.^[4] He won the fifth spot in the rotation, and was added to the major league roster when his turn came up on April 11.^[5]

In 2009, Hernandez was one of only three active players, along with Derek Lowe and Brad Ausmus, to have played 12 or more seasons without going on the disabled list.[5]

Hernandez securely established himself as a dependable starting pitcher early in the Mets' 2009 pitching rotation. On May 26, 2009, Hernandez threw a complete game, giving just one earned run through his nine innings courtesy of an Adam Dunn home run in a 6-1 win over over his former club, the Washington Nationals. He was the 1st pitcher to throw a complete game in Citi Field. He became the only active player that have thrown a complete game with six different teams.^{[citation needed]}

However, after struggling greatly in July and August, Hernandez' job was put in jeopardy. After a 6-2 loss to the Diamondbacks, manager Jerry Manuel decided to start Hernandez against the Giants, who handed the Mets a 10-1 loss on August 17, 2009. Subsequently, on August 20, 2009 the Mets released Hernandez to make room for Billy Wagner on the active roster. [6]

Return To Nationals

On August 26, he re-signed with the Washington Nationals.^[6]

See also

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
• List of NL Silver Slugger Winners at Pitcher

Notes

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube