"The road back to the Indians and big league baseball is not going to be easy for Roberto Hernandez Heredia, the pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona.

The Indians put Hernandez on the restricted list Thursday. The move means that Hernandez does not count toward their 40- or 25-man roster and that he cannot be paid or credited with service time until he joins the Indians in the United States.

If Hernandez and his representatives successfully clear the legal hurdles of two countries in the coming weeks, the restricted list will probably seem like a minor inconvenience.

Here's what Hernandez is facing following his arrest last week in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for using a false identity to try and get a visa so he could report to spring training on Feb. 20 in Goodyear, Ariz.

• Hernandez must establish his real identity with the Dominican government. For instance, what is his real name, birth date, etc.?

• Then he would have to apply for a visa from the United States government so he could join the Indians.

• Then he very well could face disciplinary action in the form of a suspension from MLB.

After his arrest and subsequent release on bail, Dominican authorities said Carmona was really Hernandez and that he was 31 instead of 28.

Manager Manny Acta, at the start of the Indians' weekend mall tour Thursday night at Southpark in Strongsville, said he's talked to Hernandez almost every day since his arrest. Acta did not want to speak about Hernandez specifically, but did address the long-running problem of Dominican players falsifying their ages and identities to make themselves appear younger and thus more attractive to big-league teams. "