Roberto Manuel Hernández Rodríguez (born November 11, 1964) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball right-handed relief pitcher.

His best Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons[1] came with the Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, in the 1990s.

[2] During his junior year of high school, he and his brother were forced to drop out due to the fact that is mother was sick and his father was laid off from his job.

In the fall of 1984, Hernández attended the University of Connecticut to play baseball for the Huskies and was named the starting catcher in the spring of 1985.

Hernández hoped to return to UConn in the fall of 1985 and pitch; However, he had difficulty contacting the coach during the summer.

The surgery was successful and he went on to make his major league debut as a starting pitcher against the Kansas City Royals on September 2 of that year.

In 1993, he was instrumental in the White Sox' drive for the American League West Division pennant, going 2–1 with 21 saves in the second half of the season.

During the 1997 season, the White Sox traded Hernández, Wilson Álvarez, and Danny Darwin, to the San Francisco Giants for six prospects (Keith Foulke, Bob Howry, Lorenzo Barceló, Mike Caruso, Ken Vining, and Brian Manning in what became known as the White Flag Trade.

On July 31, 2006, Hernández was reacquired by the Mets along with pitcher Óliver Pérez for outfielder Xavier Nady.

[6] But Hernández pitched poorly over the first three months of the season (6.23 ERA in 28 games) and eventually lost the confidence of manager Eric Wedge.

His son, Roberto Jr., attended USCA as a member of the baseball team,[11] playing at the stadium named for his father.