The Houston Astros have released starting pitcher Livan Hernandez, the club announced Friday. They had signed Hernandez to a minor-league contract in January and would have owed him $100,000 had he made the opening-day roster. Evidently he didn't do enough in camp to make the club believe he was worth that amount. At age 37 and not good enough to make the roster of one of baseball's worst teams, it's worth wondering if we've seen big Livan throw his final MLB pitch. [Update: Nevermind! He's signed with the Braves already.]
He'd leave behind a good career. A two-time All-Star, Hernandez was the 1997 NLCS and World Series MVP for the Marlins. Much of his value throughout Hernandez's career, though, was his ability to take on a huge workload. He's racked up 3,121 2/3 innings in his 16-season career. He threw more than 200 innings in a season 10 times (and once he threw 199 2/3). Six times he threw more than 225 and twice he was over 245.
As for the Astros, their rotation appears to be as follows: Wandy Rodriguez, Bud Norris, J.A. Happ, Jordan Lyles and Kyle Weiland.
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