The Cleveland Guardians selected the contract of 29-year-old right-hander Carlos Hernández from Triple-A Columbus on Tuesday as major league rosters expanded from 26 to 28 players.
Utilityman Daniel Schneemann was also recalled from the Clippers as Cleveland begins a series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The move completes a remarkable return for Hernández, who feared his career might be over after a serious car accident in Venezuela on Jan. 11. Driving with his brother-in-law and a friend in San Félix, Bolívar, he became distracted while texting and crashed.
He was pulled from the wreckage with a fractured right femur, a broken left arm, a Grade 3 left ankle sprain, and a deep cut on his arm that nearly reached the bone. Everyone in the car survived.
Hernández, a 6-foot-4, 255-pound native of Guayana, Venezuela, signed a minor-league deal with Cleveland on Nov. 7, 2025, after spending parts of six seasons in the majors, mostly with the Kansas City Royals.
The Guardians claimed him off waivers from Detroit last July; he posted a 3.86 ERA in seven innings over five appearances before being designated for assignment and finishing the year in Columbus.
He missed spring training while recovering and began a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League on July 7 before joining Columbus on July 23.
In 12 Triple-A appearances this year, Hernández allowed eight runs in 13 1/3 innings with 20 strikeouts and seven walks. His four-seam fastball has averaged 96.4 mph, and he also throws a splitter and slider.
A 5.40 ERA at Columbus was inflated by one rough outing, but the strikeout rate remained strong. Career-wise, he owns a 5.14 ERA across nearly 300 major league innings and a 6.23 ERA in 43 1/3 innings last season across Philadelphia, Detroit, and Cleveland.
Manager Stephen Vogt called the return bigger than baseball. “It’s pretty incredible that he’s back on the mound and getting back to the big leagues,” Vogt said.
Hernández is expected to work in middle relief and lower-leverage spots as the Guardians push for a postseason berth. Out of options, he must stay on the active roster or be exposed to waivers.
The addition gives Cleveland another power arm and another chapter in a comeback that almost never happened.
