Cleveland Indians: 5 most important players in 2017

Carlos Carrasco is a great pitcher who has never been able to prove himself on a big stage. 2016 was supposed to give him that chance, but a line drive to the hand in September ended that possibility.

But Carrasco is now back and healthy and ready to serve as a complement to Corey Kluber in the rotation. Along with Danny Salazar, Carrasco and Kluber combine to form one of the most dominant trios in all of baseball. Factor in solid seasons from Josh Tomlin and Trevor Bauer, and opposing teams will have a tough time against the Indians all season.

The Indians lacked that dominant No. 2 starter in the 2016 postseason, which may have been the ultimate difference between winning it all and simply coming close.

With Carrasco now healthy, Indians fans are hoping he can be the solution to last season’s problem.

Before he went out, Carrasco was 11-8 with a 3.32 ERA in 146.1 innings pitched. His 150 strikeouts saw him finish fourth among Indians pitchers, although that number could have been much higher if he had three more starts.

What fans want out of Carrasco, besides staying healthy, is consistency. Once Carrasco and Salazar went out in 2016, Indians fans could only rely on Kluber for a dominant start. Other starters like Bauer, Tomlin, and even Ryan Merritt had fans worried with each pitch.

But having Carrasco following Kluber all season should mean fans can expect long, successful outings in back-to-back games throughout the year. Fans will also expect this of Salazar, but Carrasco has set himself up as a worthy successor to Kluber’s role as the team’s ace.

This is not to say the Indians need Carrasco to be great to win a World Series, but his presence in the postseason would make things much easier on Kluber and the rest of the pitching staff.