Indians rotation takes another hit with Carlos Carrasco out
The Cleveland Indians are trying to stay in the AL Central race. But it appears they’ll be without Carlos Carrasco for a while, dealing a blow to those efforts.
With a win Tuesday night, the Cleveland Indians moved to 10.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central. They say momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher, and before his scheduled start against the Twins Wednesday night, the Indians announced Carlos Carrasco has been placed on the Injured List with a non-baseball medical condition.
More specifically, Carrasco has been diagnosed with blood condition that has left him feeling lethargic for several weeks. The team offered no further specifics, with reference to the “information gathering stage” for Carrasco and noting a treatment plan that will be revealed at the discretion of he and his family.
Despite the vague and somewhat ominous statement, the Indians do expect Carrasco back some time this season.
Carrasco is 4-6 with a 4.98 ERA and 10.9 K/9 rate to go with an AL-leading BB/9 rate (1.5) and K/BB ratio (7.18) over 12 starts this season (65 innings). He has been up-and down, allowing six runs in two of his first three starts and at least five earned runs in each of his last two. Over the seven starts in between, he had a 2.34 ERA with 49 strikeouts and six walks over 42.1 innings.
The Indians recalled Jon Edwards and Nick Goody to help fill the void left by Carrasco. Already down Mike Clevinger (back) and Corey Kluber (arm) — though Clevinger is starting a rehab assignment and is nearing a return — the Indians have Trevor Bauer, Shane Bieber and Zach Plesac in the rotation with Adam Plutko also being recalled to start Friday night.
As for Wednesday night in Carrasco’s place, it became a bullpen game for Indians manager Terry Francona. Through three innings as of this writing, Tyler Clippard, Tyler Olson and the recently-recalled Goody have pitched for Cleveland.
Carlos Carrasco will not make today’s start. He was recently diagnosed with a blood condition & his timetable is TBD.
— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) June 5, 2019
Today will be a bullpen day with Tyler Clippard starting. To get more arms up, they optioned Greg Allen to Triple-A & brought up Jon Edwards and Nick Goody.
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Baseball concerns and implications aside, here’s wishing Carrasco a speedy recovery.