CLEVELAND, OH – Carlos Carrasco jogged onto the Progressive Field grass in a game that mattered for the first time in 101 days on Tuesday night. Fans got on their feet and cheered as loud as they could for Carrasco, who was diagnosed with leukemia in early June.
The 32-year-old was back, pitching for the Tribe and doing it in front of the hometown crowd.
Carlos Carrasco gets a HUGE ovation in his return to Progressive Field. He hadn’t pitched here since May 25. #Indians pic.twitter.com/t0d2BZD9AG
— James Rapien (@JamesRapien) September 4, 2019The Indians had a 5-2 lead when Carrasco entered the game in the eighth inning. It was a great moment for him and for the fans, but baseball still needed to be played.
Carrasco reared back and fired his first pitch, an 88 mph changeup for a ball. He followed that up with a 96 mph four-seam fastball that just missed the corner of the plate. Carrasco battled back, forcing a 3-2 count, but Leury Garcia hit his four-seam fastball to left field for a base hit.
Tim Anderson came to the plate and hit a soft grounder through the hole and into the outfield, which put runners on first and second. Carrasco could’ve gotten rattled, but he responded by striking out striking out Jose Abreu and Yoan Moncada.
“I thought when he got Moncada that he was OK,” manager Terry Francona said after the game.
Carrasco’s next pitch was a slider he left over the middle of the plate and James McCann took it for a ride (418 feet) into the left field seats. Suddenly a 5-2 game was tied and the White Sox had all of the momentum. Eloy Jiménez hit the go-ahead homer five pitches later and Chicago went on to steal a win from the Indians.
Some have questioned Francona’s decision to put Carrasco in the game with a 5-2 lead in the eighth inning. Others wonder why the Indians’ manager left him in there after he gave up back-to-back singles?
It’s easy to look at the result and question the thought process behind it. In reality, Francona was going to give Carrasco a chance to keep the game tied 2-2. Roberto Perez hit a 3-run homer in the seventh that gave the Indians a 5-2 lead that appeared to make things easier on Cookie.
The Indians can’t save Carrasco for games that are out of reach. The whole point of adding him to the roster was so he could help in big moments later this month and in the playoffs. If he’s going to do that then he needs to pitch a lot to get into midseason form. The Indians are using him on back-to-back days as a precaution for at least a week. He pitched Sunday, but didn’t get into Monday’s game. Giving him multiple days of rest or waiting for a game to get out of hand before putting him in the game isn’t going to prepare him for October baseball.
The end result wasn’t what Francona, Carrasco or the Indians wanted, but the thought process behind it was logical.
Carrasco responded with two strikeouts in a row after allowing back-to-back singles to start the inning. His four-seam fastball topped out at 96 mph. The Indians thought Carrasco’s stuff looked good, outside of the breaking ball he hung over the plate to McCann.
The Indians lost on Tuesday night. Carrasco’s return to Progressive Field didn’t go as planned, but that doesn’t mean fans need to blame someone for the end result.
There’s nothing wrong with bringing him in with a 5-2 lead. There’s nothing wrong with thinking he can hold his own against the White Sox. The Indians are going to face much tougher opponents over the next few weeks. If Carrasco is going to be a part of the solution, then he’s going to have to pitch in actual high leverage situations.
“He’s done it before,” Francona said. “He’ll be OK.”
If Carrasco learns from Tuesday’s loss like everyone expects him to, then it could end up benefitting him when he’s going up against the Twins, Phillies, Nationals and any other team the Indians could face in the playoffs.
