Hernández was born to a poor family in the Villa Clara Province in Cuba. After meeting recruiter Joe Cubas in Venezuela in 1994, the two planned an escape through Mexico. At the age of 20, Hernández gave up his job as an official Cuban athlete and defected to the United States in 1995. His half-brother, Orlando, would defect two years later.\n', '

Hernández has played for the Florida Marlins (1996–1999), the San Francisco Giants (1999–2002), the Montreal Expos (2003–2004), the Washington Nationals (2005–2006, 2009–2011), the Arizona Diamondbacks (2006–2007), the Minnesota Twins (2008), the Colorado Rockies (2008), the New York Mets (2009), the Atlanta Braves (2012) and the Milwaukee Brewers (2012). He bats and throws right-handed, and is known for throwing a "slow hook" curveball, sometimes below 60 miles per hour, as a strikeout pitch.\n', '

A two-time All-Star, Hernández was considered to be a great defensive pitcher, having made just fifteen errors in his career. He is described as a workhorse; he throws many pitches, pitches many innings, and makes every start he needs 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). Hernández 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 his bat, and won the Silver Slugger Award at the pitcher position in 2004.\n', '

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