Cleveland Indians: Carrasco the heartbeat of the Tribe

Cleveland Indians‘ starter Carlos Carrasco has gotten past his heart palpitation issues and can simply focus on getting the fans hearts racing.

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Carlos “Cookie” Carrasco, was given the nickname by fellow teammate and backup catcher

, after he was caught snacking on cookies and milk on a plane.

Married and a father of 4 children, Carlos signed a 4-year extension worth $22 million in April 2015 that also includes club options for 2019 and 2020 with the Cleveland Indians. He has a career 4.08 ERA and has 520 strikeouts to go along with his 33-38 overall win-lose total. Most would say that the Cleveland Indians got a great deal on the extension but Carlos had a motive to get a deal signed- his family.

In 2011 Carlos felt like his heart was racing, “like I was excited” he said. That same feeling kept happening through 2012 and 2013, and it wasn’t until the end of the 2014 season that the Indians team doctors felt it was time to address the issue.

28-year-old Carrasco was suffering from heart palpitations; a condition that  would force him to undergo a seven-hour surgical procedure at the Cleveland Clinic on October 8, 2014. “My heart would beat 120 times per minute,” Carlos said.  Surgeons ran a tube from his leg to one of his back ventricles to increase the blood flow needed.

"“It was a little bit scary,” he said, “But we did everything in October. I got the surgery. Everything now is fine”"

A strong 2015 season saw the hard-throwing righty finish with a 14-12 record. His most memorable game was against the Tampa Bay Rays. In that game, Carlos took a no-hitter into the 9th inning and with only 1 strike to go, Joey Butler (who the Indians later signed) singled over the head of the 5’11” second baseman, Jason Kipnis. Carlos embraced Jason with a hug and smile after the play; ever the professional and a sign of a great team-mate.

"“I’m sorry I’m not taller homie!”, said Kipnis after the game."

2014 saw the Cleveland Indians break the Major League Baseball single-season strikeout record in with 1,431. Having Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Cody Anderson and Josh Tomlin as the starting routine, the Indians will challenge the Majors for the best pitching staff in 2016.