CLEVELAND (AP) — Carlos Hernández sat in the Guardians dugout Tuesday, back in the major leagues less than eight months after a car accident in Venezuela left him wondering whether he would ever pitch again.
The 29-year-old right-hander was added to Cleveland's 40-man roster on Tuesday as part of the Sept. 1 expansion, completing a long recovery from the Jan. 11 crash on the road toward San Felix in the eastern Venezuelan state of Bolivar.
Hernández said he was driving with his brother-in-law and a good friend when he became distracted. He disclosed he was texting while driving at the time of the crash.
"Obviously I want it to serve as a reminder not to drive and text," Hernández said through Guardians interpreter Agustin Rivero. "I feel the accident happened right when I was texting in the middle of driving."
He suffered a broken right femur, a sprained left ankle, a broken left arm and a deep cut to his left arm that went nearly to the bone. The other passengers were also hurt but have recovered.
"Luckily everybody's alive," Hernández said. "Obviously with serious injuries, but thankfully everybody's alive."
Hernández was pulled from the wreckage after the crash, and he and his cousin were pulled from the wreckage, according to reports. He said he was "really scared" during the accident, which he described as "very intense."
His recovery initially had little to do with pitching. Hernández first had to get healthy enough to resume everyday life before he could think about returning to a mound. There were times when he wondered whether that would ever happen.
"The concern was there knowing that there was a chance that I might not be able to play baseball again," Hernández said.
Hernández credited his personal therapist with pushing him through some of the most difficult moments of his recovery, and he thanked the Guardians and their training staff for supporting him throughout. He returned to the Guardians on a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training in November.
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt spoke with Hernández shortly after the accident and again after the right-hander returned to the Guardians' complex in Arizona.
"The main thing was just checking on him and his family and making sure that they were OK and that he was OK," Vogt said. "Some things are way bigger than baseball."
Hernández has spent most of this season rehabbing at Triple-A Columbus. He appeared in five games for the Guardians last season after spending the bulk of his career with Kansas City, pitching for the Royals from 2020-24. He was also with Philadelphia and Detroit last season.
"I feel like I'm here just as a testament of God's will," Hernández said. "Otherwise, there's no way to explain what has happened to me for normal words."