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| Jose Fernandez |
March 20, 2008. That was the day Jose Fernandez's life changed forever.
Three unsuccessful attempts at fleeing Cuba had left Fernandez, his mother and his sister without much hope of joining their father in the United States.
"The first time I couldn't get [To America]." Fernandez said, not long after he'd been drafted. "The second time, they caught me 10 miles away from Miami. When they sent me back, they took me out of school and didn't let me play baseball."
Despite being caught twice, that didn't stop them trying again.
When their third attempt came around the Cuban government had had enough. After being caught again, they threw 14-year-old Fernandez in jail.
The jail he was in wasn't the luxury suite that some prisoners in America seem to live in.
"You had no clothes, except the clothes you had on your back. And there was no shelter in these prisons. When it rained, you got wet; it was freezing. You got treated like an animal," said Fernandez.
After being released from prison, the Fernandez family courageously tried again.
On May 20, 2008, they finally accomplished their goal.
After fighting through 8-foot waves on a long journey, they finally made it to Mexico. From Mexico, they bused to the U.S. border in Hidalgo, Texas and finally reunited with their father in Tampa Bay.
In Tampa he went to Braulio Alonso High School and showed incredible stuff, resulting in the Marlins drafting him with the 14th pick in the 2011 draft.
Fernandez dominated in the minor leagues, but it was still a surprise when the Miami Marlins added him to their 25 man opening day roster as he wasn't expected to be ready for the big leagues before at least September 2013. The main reason for the surprise call-up was the injuries to Henderson Alvarez and Nathan Eovaldi that left the Marlins short on pitchers.
It turns out that any concerns over his major league readiness were unnecessary.
In his first MLB start against the New York Mets Fernandez went 5 innings giving up 3 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 8. The stat-line only tells half the story, it was the way in which he went about his business that was most impressive. He was calm and cool on the mound, overpowering hitters in a way Marlins pitchers haven't been able to do for years.
Since then he has accumulated a 3.65 ERA in 7 games, with his two best performances both coming against the Philadelphia Phillies.
It hasn't all been plain sailing for the young Cuban, but as he so brilliantly put it before his first major league start:
“I've been in jail. I've been shot at. I've been in the water. I’m not scared to face David Wright. What can he do?”
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