Hern¨¢ndez resides in San Felix, Venezuela with his wife, Fransaidys Ramos, and daughter, Camila... Carlos helped Team Venezuela reach the quarterfinals of the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where they fell to Team USA 9-7¡he made a pair of appearances in the tournament, once on March 14 vs. Nicaragua, when he threw 2.0 scoreless frames with four strikeouts, and in the quarterfinal game vs. the United States on March 18, when he got two outs, including a strikeout of Team USA Captain Mike Trout on a 99.3 mph fastball.
2023
Spent the entire 2023 season with the Royals and had the most relief innings on the team (63.0 IP), the most strikeouts (67), the lowest opponents¡¯ batting average (.237) and matched James McArthur for the 2nd-most saves (4)¡his 77 strikeouts overall (including 10 as a starter) set a new career high...Was one of five players who were on Kansas City¡¯s active roster for the entire 2023 season, along with Matt Duffy, Jordan Lyles, MJ Melendez and Bobby Witt Jr... Tied Steven Cruz for the team lead with four starts as an opener¡in 7.0 innings as the opener, he recorded 10 strikeouts, one walk and three runs allowed, all of which came on June 11 at Baltimore... Among those who threw at least 1,250 pitches in 2023, his fastball¡¯s avg. velo of 99.1 mph led the Majors, ahead of the Dodgers Bobby Miller (98.9)...In 46 appearances through the end of July, he recorded a 3.57 ERA (21 ER in 53.0 IP), .192 opponents¡¯ average (37-for-193), 15 walks (2.6 BB/9) and 63 strikeouts (10.7 K/9)¡but in 21 appearances from Aug. 1 through season¡¯s end, he had a 10.59 ERA (20 ER in 17.0 IP), .342 opponents¡¯ average (25-for-73), 16 walks (8.5 BB/9) and 14 strikeouts (7.4 K/9)...Had a career-best 10.0-inning scoreless streak from June 18-July 9¡also had a career-best 39.2-inning homerless streak from April 24-July 19.
2022
In 2022, he made a career-high 27 appearances across four big league stints with the Royals¡his first seven outings with the Royals were in a starting role, but his last 20 appearances were all in relief...Hern¨¢ndez was recalled for the final time on Aug. 13 and spent the remainder of the season with the Royals...In between stints with Kansas City, he also pitched to a 3.78 ERA (21 ER in 50.0 IP) in 12 outings (11 starts) at Triple-A Omaha, including a 1.64 ERA (2 ER in 11.0 IP) over four appearances in his final Triple-A stint...On Aug. 13 vs. the Dodgers, Hern¨¢ndez threw 10 of his 55 pitches over 100.0 mph, the most by a Royal since the late Yordano Ventura threw 17 such pitches on Aug. 27, 2015 vs. Baltimore...He held left-handed batters to a .214 average (21- for-98) in 2022, but right-handers hit .389 (51-for-131).
2021
Ranked second on the team (min. 10 starts) with a 3.68 ERA (35 ER in 85.2 IP), which trailed only Danny Duffy (2.51), and was the fifth-best ERA in the American League among pitchers in their first or second season, trailing only Alek Manoah (3.22), Luis Garcia (3.30), Shane McClanahan (3.43) and Cristian Javier (3.55)...His 3.68 ERA was the second-best by a Royal in the last five seasons since 2017 (min. 85.0 IP), trailing only Brad Keller¡¯s 3.08 ERA (48 ER in 140.1 IP) in 2018...Made the Opening Day roster for the first time, but pitched to an 8.22 ERA (7 ER in 7.2 IP) over his first two big-league stints from April 1-14 and May 28-30...recalled on June 9 for his third stint with Kansas City, where he stayed through season¡¯s end and went 5-2 with a 3.23 ERA (28 ER in 78.0 IP) and .212 opponents¡¯ average (59-for-278) in 20 appearances (11 starts)...from his June 9 recall through the end of the season, his opponents¡¯ average ranked fifth in the American League (min. 75.0 IP), his .714 win percentage tied for eighth and his ERA ranked 10th...After allowing seven runs in 7.2 innings across four appearances over his first two stints with the Royals, he pitched to a 3.21 ERA (5 ER in 14.0 IP) and .216 opponents¡¯ average (11-for-51) over his next eight appearances from his June 9 recall through July 6...He earned his first win as a starting pitcher on July 29 vs. the White Sox, and from that point on, he went 5-1 with a 2.51 ERA (16 ER in 57.1 IP) and .212 opponents¡¯ average (43-for-203) and ranked third in the American League in ERA (min. 50.0 IP), trailing only Frankie Montas (1.92) and Cal Quantrill (2.03)...Of the 17 runs he allowed over his final 10 outings from July 29-Sept. 24, seven of them (41.2%) came in his Sept. 15 start vs. Oakland, in which he allowed a career-high nine hits on a career-high seven runs in 4.0 innings...that loss snapped a stretch of eight appearances (7 starts) from July 29-Sept. 9 in which he went 5-0 with a 1.68 ERA (9 ER in 48.1 IP) and .192 opponents¡¯ average (32-for-167), which ranked third and fourth, respectively, in the American League...his ERA during that time trailed only Robbie Ray (1.51) and Steven Matz (1.63)...The Royals went 4-10 in his first 14 appearances but went 8-2 in his last 10 outings...He held opponents to one earned run or fewer in seven of his last 10 appearances from July 29-Sept. 24...Hit 100.0 mph on 30 pitches in 2021, 11 of which came as a starter, matching Shohei Ohtani for the fifth-most pitches at triple digits among all starters, trailing Jacob deGrom (185), Sandy Alc¨¢ntara (58), Gerrit Cole (31) and Shane McClanahan (16)...in the Pitch Tracking Era (since 2008), only one Royal has recorded more triple-digit velocity pitches in a starting role in a single season: Yordano Ventura, who did it in 2014 (135), 2015 (50) and in 2016 (29)...the only other Royals to hit 100.0 mph as a starter in the last 14 years were Danny Duffy (2012), Felipe Paulino (2011) and Zack Greinke (2010)...He induced a career-best 19 swings and misses in a 5.2-inning relief appearance on Aug. 27 at Seattle, which accounted for 23.8% of his 80 pitches...that marked the fourth-highest whiff rate (min. 50 pitches) in a game by a Royal in the Pitch Tracking Era (since 2008), trailing three games pitched by Duffy, including his club-record 18-strikeout game on Aug. 1, 2016 at Tampa Bay, in which he induced 35 swings and misses on 110 pitches (31.8%)...Held left-handed batters to a .184 average (26-for-141) in 2021, and allowed just two extra-base hits to the 109 lefties he faced over his final 10 appearances (9 starts) from July 29 through season¡¯s end...for the season, his .277 opponents¡¯ slugging percentage vs. left-handed batters led the American League (min. 150 batters faced) and ranked fourth in the Majors behind Tyler Rogers (.229), Rich Hill (.266) and Jacob deGrom (.275)...Went 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA (10 ER in 39.2 IP) and .169 opponents¡¯ average (23-for-136) in 11 road appearances (4 starts) in 2021, and did not allow an earned run in his last 19.2 innings on the road, from the fifth inning of his Aug. 22 start at Wrigley Field through season¡¯s end...he finished that start with three scoreless frames, before recording 5.2 innings of relief on Aug. 27 in Seattle, allowing one unearned run, which was the automatic runner in the 10th inning of an eventual 8-7 Royals win in 12 innings...on Sept. 9 in Baltimore, Carlos held the O¡¯s to three hits over 6.0 scoreless innings en route to a 6-0 win, and in his final start on Sept. 24 in Detroit, he held the Tigers scoreless on two hits over 5.0 innings...His .169 opponents¡¯ average on the road tied with Trevor Bauer for the second-lowest in the Majors among pitchers who made at least four road starts, trailing only Jacob deGrom (.144) and his road ERA ranked second in the American League behind Drew Rasmussen (2.06)...Carlos was one of two pitchers in the Majors with at least three road wins and no road losses (min. 4 road starts), joining deGrom, who also went 3-0...only two pitchers in Royals history have gone better than 3-0 on the road (min. 4 road starts): Kris Medlen (5-0) in 2015 and Al Fitzmorris (5-0) in 1971...Recorded five strikeouts over 3.0 innings of relief and earned his first career win in the Royals¡¯ 14-10 victory vs. Texas on April 1 at Kauffman Stadium, becoming the first Royal to earn his first career win on Opening Day...at 24 years, 21 days, he was the third-youngest Royal to win on Opening Day, older only than Brad Keller (23.244 in 2019) and the late Yordano Ventura (23.307 in 2015), and became just the fifth Royal to win on Opening Day in relief, joining Juan Carlos Oviedo (2008), D.J. Carrasco (2004), Tom Burgmeier (1972) and Moe Drabowsky (1969)...Held opponents to just seven HR in 85.2 innings for a 0.74 HR/9, matching Nathan Eovaldi for the fourth-best rate in the American League in 2021 (min. 85.0 IP), trailing only Alex Cobb (0.48), Kyle Gibson (0.72) and Lance McCullers Jr (0.72)...he had a career-best 27.2-inning homerless streak from Aug. 22-Sept. 15, which was snapped by Matt Olson in his second-to-last start...of the seven players to homer off Carlos in 2021, six of them have been selected to an All-Star Game, including Olson, Carlos Correa, Aledmys D¨ªaz, Jos¨¦ Abreu, Rafael Devers and Matt Chapman...the only exception is Jeimer Candelario, who has never been selected to an All-Star Game, but tied for the Majors lead with 42 doubles...In five starts vs. playoff teams, he went 3-0 with a 2.43 ERA (8 ER in 29.2 IP), and all three wins came vs. the White Sox, in which he posted a 1.59 ERA (3 ER in 17.0 IP)...in his two other starts vs. playoff teams, he took a no-decision on Aug. 9 vs. the Yankees despite holding them to one run over 6.2 innings and did not figure into the decision of a 7-6 Royals win on Aug. 16 vs. Houston...He¡¯s one of five different Venezuela-born pitchers to start in Royals history, joining Dilson Torres (1995), Eduardo Villacis (2004), Yohan Pino (2015) and Angel Zerpa (2021), and his 14 career starts are nine more than the combined total of the other four...Salvador Perez, also from Venezuela, caught 11 of Carlos¡¯ 14 starts to mark the second Venezuelan starting pitcher/catcher battery in Royals history, according to Elias, joining Perez and Pino in 2015.
2020
Made his Major League debut on Sept. 1 vs. Cleveland, and pitched in five games, making three starts...became the eighth known Royal to make the jump from A-ball to the Majors (per Royals Hall of Fame Director Curt Nelson) and second in 2020, joining fellow pitcher Kris Bubic...Assigned to the Royals Alternate Training Site on Aug. 11, before being recalled to the Majors on Aug. 30...Allowed two hits and one walk over 3.2 scoreless frames in his debut, entering the game in the second inning...became the eighth Royal to pitch as many as 3.2 scoreless innings of relief in a debut and first since Dusty Hughes (4.1 IP) on Sept. 6, 2009...Made his first start on Sept. 12 vs. Pittsburgh, taking a no-decision in a 7-4 Royals win...surrendered three solo home runs over 3.0 innings, with no walks and two strikeouts...three of his 42 pitches registered 99.0 mph or faster, including a 99.1 mph sinker to strike out Ke¡¯Bryan Hayes to end the first inning.
2019
Pitched at three different levels, finishing the year at Class-A Lexington, after also spending time with Rookie-level Surprise and Burlington...combined to go 3-5 with a 5.31 ERA (34 ER in 57.2 IP) and 68 strikeouts...Did not make his season debut until June 21, after missing the final three weeks of action in 2018...Lost his first four decisions, but allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his last five starts (all with Lexington) going 3-1 with a 1.29 ERA (4 ER in 28.0 IP)...Earned the win with 5.0 scoreless innings in Game 2 of the South Atlantic League Championship, a 7-0 victory over Hickory.
2018
Pitched the entire year with Lexington, and did not allow an earned run in three consecutive starts from June 29-July 9, recording 7.0 innings in each outing...held opponents to a .134 average (9-for-67) in those starts with 20 strikeouts in 21.0 innings...Recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts in a 2-1 win over Greensboro on July 9...also recorded nine strikeouts on May 12 vs. Greenville and May 23 vs. Rome.
2017
Spent his first professional season with Burlington (Rookie), going 1-4 with a 5.49 ERA (38 ER in 62.1 IP) in 11 starts (12 appearances).