Roberto Hernandez / Fausto Carmona Returns To Indians

Hernandez, formerly known as Fausto Carmona, exited after pitching just two and one-third innings. It was just his third start of the season after visa issues and a three-week MLB suspension prevented him from joining the Indians sooner. Hernandez was suspended three weeks for age and identity fraud. The team also adjusted his contract following the scandal, reducing his 2012 salary and eliminating one of the remaining option years.

He allowed three runs and four hits before exiting Monday’s game. He has now allowed 12 earned runs in 14.1 innings since returning to the Indians. Hernandez posted a 4.07 ERA in five minor-league rehab starts.

The baseball player formerly known as Fausto Carmona has had a long journey back to the major leagues after it was revealed his real name was Roberto Hernandez, and he was really 31 years old, not 28.

Wednesday, he will return to major-league action. Paul Hoynes:

Lake County and West Michigan are in the Low-A Midwest League, so he’ll probably get three or four more starts before he gets back to the major leagues. He’s serving a three-week suspension while this rehab assignment goes on, so you can figure the minor-league assignment will last that long. That puts him on target for a return to Cleveland about mid-August. The Tribe still has a shot at one of the wild-card spots, so they’ll welcome him back no matter what his name is now.

For more on the Indians, please visit Let’s Go Tribe and SB Nation Cleveland.

By way of the official Indians Twitter account, we have the three birthday cakes of Fausto Carmona/Roberto Hernandez:

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“I am extremely remorseful and apologize to the fans, teammates, the team and everybody else who has looked up to me,” he said. “I am extremely happy with the support of the fan base, but do not know what (reaction) to expect.”

Hernandez said he was “very sad all the time,” throughout the ordeal and felt he had let down the Indians. He said the toughest part was repeated rejection each time he went to the U.S. consulate in hopes of his case being resolved.Hernandez eventually did get that US work visa, redid his Cleveland contract, and now will report for a minor-league rehab assignment, which will coincide with a three-week suspension handed down by Major League Baseball.

The Indians still have a shot at one of the wild-card spots in the American League, just four games back, and so they’ll welcome Hernandez back in mid-August as a part of a rotation that could really use his help.

The pitcher most people still know as Fausto Carmona is actually Roberto Hernandez, and Hernandez is on his way back to the United States.

Hernandez is allowed to pitch in the minor leagues during his suspension, rendering it effectively meaningless. He did not attend spring training and would have needed a few starts in the minors before re-joining the Indians in the major leagues anyway. His contract has been re-worked as a result of his age and identity fraud, but he is still under contract with the Indians.

Now, it appears that’s close to becoming reality. Jordan Bastian:

According to multiple sources, pitcher Roberto Hernandez is expected to soon be receiving a new visa from the State Department, which would allow the right-hander to return to the United States. Hernandez remains in his native Dominican Republic, where he continues to train at Cleveland’s baseball academy.

“Things are moving forward,” said a person with knowledge of the situation. “It’s looking a lot better right now.”

Now, a lobbyist hired by Carmona/Hernandez says he might be back in Cleveland soon. Paul Hoynes:

A lobbyist working on behalf of Roberto Hernandez, the Indians pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona, said he could be back in the United States by the All-Star break.

“I think there is a good chance Roberto could be in Cleveland by the All-Star break,” said Stephen Payne, a visa expert and lobbyist hired by Hernandez’s agents.

Earlier this week, he got some good news:

Prosecutors in the Dominican Republic agreed to a deal with Hernandez on Monday to have the false identity charges against him dropped in exchange for the completion of a work program in his home country, according to The Associated Press. Hernandez remains on Major League Baseball’s restricted list.Not only does he remain on the restricted list, there’s no guarantee he can get the work visa that all foreign players need to work in Major League Baseball. And then there’s this:

Within that article, there are references to Not-Carmona returning “this season” and “this year”. There’s nothing more specific. I don’t know if the expected time frame is somewhere in April, or somewhere in September. I don’t know if anybody really knows yet.

While in the Dominican, Not-Carmona has been teaching young players about the dangers of assuming a false identity. Hopefully before many of them have already begun assuming false identities.

That kind of “speed” might be difficult to do, considering the legal trouble Hernandez Heredia/Carmona is in, in his home country of the Dominican Republic, and the fact that visa issues sometimes delay foreign born players’ arrival at spring training camps even when everything’s on the up and up.

For more on the Indians, please visit our SB Nation site Let’s Go Tribe.

There’s a lot of mystery involved in how this sort of thing takes place. How a player assumes another age and another identity. Courtesy of Mark Schwab - and courtesy of Pedro Gomez - we get a new nugget:

Well isn’t that a thing? Hush money! Legitimate scandal!

Over at Yahoo!, Tim Brown wrote about Carmona and the recent history of players making up birthdays on their way to professional baseball contracts. Brown’s big finish:

No question about it. As I’ve written at least a few times, professional baseball players have probably been lying about their ages as long as there’s been professional baseball. When future Hall of Famer Rube Marquard signed his first professional contract in 1906, he was 19 but said he was 16, and carried that secret to his grave. Hall of Fame shortstops Phil Rizzuto and Pee Wee Reese both shaved a year off their ages when they were being scouted, and maintained the fictions throughout their careers. Hal McRae shaved a year from his age in 1965 when the Reds drafted him, and didn’t come clean until his last days with the Royals, when he was 40--oops! Forty-one.