CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Indians placed Carlos Carrasco on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday after he was diagnosed with a blood condition. The 32-year-old had been feeling lethargic for weeks and underwent multiple tests before the diagnosis.
It’s natural to worry about the baseball end of things, but the Indians weren’t focused on that when they met as a team on Tuesday evening.
No, we didn’t talk anything about baseball yesterday,” manager Terry Francona said. “It was strictly about Carlos. I thought that’ d be a little disrespectful. We just talked about Carlos.”
The Indians had one of their biggest wins of the season on Tuesday night, a 5-2 victory over the Twins. They met prior to the game to discuss the news. It put things in perspective for a 30-30 ball club that has had its’ struggles this season.
“Our one thought of the day is how we’re going to win a game. And I don’t apologize for that,” Francona said. “At the same time, it’s kind of amazing how quickly you can shift gears. We talked about it as a team last night. Carlos was there. We do a pretty good job of closing ranks. Not that you can ever take the place of a guy’s own family, but the guys in that room are pretty special to each other. They look out for each other. At times like this, they’ve risen to the occasion before, and they will again.”
The Indians have dealt with injuries all season long. Francisco Lindor, Mike Clevinger and Corey Kluber have missed significant time.
They’ve faced challenges and treaded water with some of their best players out, but this is different. Carrasco isn't dealing with a strain, pull or shoulder injury. The right-hander is dealing with an extremely serious issue.
“We have to err on the side of being respectful to Carlos and his family,” Francona said. “When Carlos is comfortable talking more, he will. But that is strictly when he is comfortable doing that. He had been feeling sluggish, and because he’s had some heart issues in the past, he had some blood tests that led to this conclusion.”
Carrasco underwent noninvasive heart surgery in 2015. He recovered from that and was able to become an above average starting pitcher. The Indians expect him to play again this year, but that doesn’t make the news any less shocking.
In a season that hasn’t gone the Indians’ way, an event like this puts baseball in perspective.
