Allow me to Reintroduce Myself, My Name is Rob! R to the O-B!

Same guy, same number, different name.
Roberto Hernandez—What if?
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

When Roberto Hernandez was arrested in January for identity fraud, I made the joke that his two names represented the internal battle he always seemed to face—the good Fausto vs the bad Fausto. And I thought, wow, maybe when he was pitching well he was having a good day and felt he was able to conceal his identity well, and in a bad day—or bad year, like in 2009, or even 2011—the whole fraudulent identity thing may have been weighing on him.

But now that the cat's out of the bag, who knows what in the wide of sports the Indians are going to get out of Hernandez once he joins the club after his three week suspension.

First of all, how long is it going to take to get him ready to face major league hitters? Every report has said that Hernandez has been throwing 75-pitch simulated games in his native Dominican Republic. That's all well and good, but those simulated games aren't even against batters from Lake County. Also, 75 pitches really isn't that many for a starting pitcher. He'll need to be stretched out to a least 100 over the next three weeks in order to actually be ready to start for the big-league club.

But even with all that, I have a very bad feeling the Indians are going to see him as their mid-season acquisition of a starting pitcher, and then focus all their efforts on getting a bat. Is that the absolute worst thing that could happen? Well no, not exactly—especially if Hernandez pitches like "Carmona" did in 2007, or even 2010. I know Antonetti said in his press conference today that Hernandez's return doesn't really affect what the team is trying to do in the trade market, and Ken Rosenthal said today that the Indians are focusing their trading efforts on a starting pitcher, but based on this front office's track record, I just don't believe the Indians are going to acquire another starter. 

And the worst part is that it yet again comes down to "What if?" What if Hernandez can come back and be a quality starting pitcher for the last six weeks of the season?

What kind of garbage is that?

This is why every time the stupid "What if?" commercials come on the radio or television, I want to change the station. How much of this "What if?" crap are we as fans supposed to take? It's like this team is being put together on shoe strings and gum—not track records and actual efforts to tangibly improve the team.

I'm sorry, but right now this team is a game over .500, and anyone who thinks someone who hasn't pitched in a major league game in nearly a year is going to all of a sudden become a dominant starting pitcher in MLB—let alone the American League—probably needs their head examined.

You can't even tell me that Hernandez pitched well down the stretch last season, because he didn't. Sure he had a good July and August, but then went 1-3 with a 7.26 ERA in six starts in September and October. So really, this could be subtraction by addition. Is he really what this team needs at a point where it's 2.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot and 3.0 games out of the Central? And who knows where we'll be in three weeks when he's eligible to pitch for the team.

That sort of sounds like I'm saying the Indians may have been better off with Hernandez staying in the Dominican Republic, but it's honestly not. I actually think the Tribe should put him in the bullpen and go from there.

If you recall "Carmona's" rookie year of 2006, he enjoyed a stretch of about two and a half months as the Indians' setup man, and was pretty darn effective as a reliever. Then the Indians traded Bob Wickman and tried to make "Carmona" the closer, an experiment that turned out to be an unmitigated disaster.

But the point is, as a middle-reliever and setup man, Carmona was great. And since everyone in the bullpen not named Rogers, Smith, Pestano, or Perez has been completely unreliable, I think it would be wise to put Hernandez back there. Let's let those who have been starting all season long do that job if we need a rotation replacement—those like Jenmar Gomez or Corey Kluber in AAA, or someone acquired from a trade.

To me, "What if Roberto Hernandez pitches well in the starting rotation for six weeks?" just isn't the type of question an organization serious about winning a division or wild card spot should ask its fans.

~MAS