Marlins ace pitcher, 24, in boat accident
Veloz said.
No evidence of alcohol or drugs was found at the crash, though toxicology tests will be part of the autopsies performed on the victims, authorities said.
The pitcher was not operating the vessel, which was owned by one of his friends, according to the Coast Guard.
Authorities did not identify the other two victims, both in their mid-20s. Neither was a professional athlete.
The hurler’s teammates were devastated.
“I’m still waiting to wake up from this nightmare,” Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton posted on Instagram. “I lost my brother today and can’t quite comprehend it. The shock is overwhelming. What he meant to me, our team, the city of Miami, Cuba & everyone else in the world that his enthusiasm/heart has touched can never be replaced.”
Fernandez, who became a U.S. citizen last year, defected from Cuba to the United States with his mother and sister after three failed attempts resulted in several months of jail time. He escaped by boat when he was only 15, leaving his grandmother Olga, a woman he called the “love of my life,” behind. While crossing the rough waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Fernandez jumped in to rescue a woman who had fallen overboard. It wasn’t until he reached her that he discovered it was his mother.
Fernandez was drafted in the first round of the 2011 MLB draft, receiving a $2 million signing bonus. He made his major league debut two years later at Citi Field when he was just 20 years old.
The day before Fernandez won Rookie of the Year in 2013, the Marlins surprised the star pitcher by reuniting him with the grandmother he hadn’t seen in six years.
Although injuries kept the hurler sidelined for much of the 2014 — when he underwent Tommy John surgery — and 2015