Cleveland Indians: Carlos Carrasco returns after leaving his last start early

Cleveland Indians fans will see Carlos Carrasco back on the mound tonight after he was bumped back to due a pectoral injury.

The Cleveland Indians picked up a win the last time Carlos Carrasco took the mound, but it was a rough day for the roster.

Both Carrasco and Abraham Almonte were injured, although Almonte’s injury is keeping him out for an extended time, while Carrasco is back tonight to take on the Cincinnati Reds.

The sight of Carrasco leaving his last start in pain was a scary one for Indians fans. It came after he allowed five runs in just 3.2 innings, making it his worst start of the season.

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Before that start on May 15, Carrasco was sporting a 1.86 ERA, although it is only up to 2.60 which is by far the best among the starting rotation.

Even with the bad start, Carrasco leads the rotation in ERA, wins, WHIP, and home runs allowed. To put in perspective just how valuable he has been to the rotation, Corey Kluber‘s ERA is 5.06 in just six starts, which is second among the group.

Carrasco has emerged as the ace of the staff so fans are desperately hoping he doesn’t have any lingering issues from the pectoral injury that took him out of his last start.

It would be hard to imagine the training and coaching staff letting him start if that was the case, but professional athletes are known to say they are fine even if they may feel some pain. Let’s hope Carrasco is different.

Tonight’s game comes on the heels of another atrocious performance on offense by the Indians, with a Jason Kipnis home run being the only offense mustered last night. So even though Carrasco is being relied upon to do enough to pick up a win, the offense must wake up, which seems like a recurring theme in 2017.

But the most important thing is that Carrasco continues to stay healthy, meaning some fans may be holding their breath until after he leaves tonight’s game and declares he is healthy. A win would be a nice way to ease some stress too.

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