Cleveland Indians: Carlos Carrasco a bright spot from the postseason

Cleveland Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco made his postseason debut in the 2017 ALDS and did not disappoint after missing the 2016 postseason due to injury.

Carlos Carrasco was one of the main reasons Cleveland Indians fans were excited about the 2017 postseason. The team nearly won it all in 2016 with Carrasco on the bench with an injury, so his presence was supposed to mean great things this year.

Carrasco did indeed deliver, but only made one start in a five-game series that saw a potentially injured Corey Kluber pitch twice and be ineffective in both outings.

Fans and writers alike have been debating the postseason starting rotation decisions made by Terry Francona, but any negative mention of Carrasco is nowhere to be found, and for good reason.

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The Indians went to New York up 2-0 over the Yankees with Carrasco on the mound. The order of the rotation still seemed odd, but if Carrasco could pick up the win it wouldn’t matter.

He responded by going 5.2 innings without allowing a run, although he did get into a bit of trouble in the sixth inning when he was removed from the game. Luckily, Andrew Miller came in and saved the day. Well, at least in the sixth.

Carrasco’s story mirrors that of his teammates, as we will never know who would have been the hero after such an early exit.

Regardless, the right-hander made a statement heading into 2018 that he remains the number two starter in this rotation.

Carrasco is under contract through 2020 with the last two years being team options, but with the cost being $9 million in 2019 and $9.5 million in 2020, the Indians signed the pitcher to a steal of a deal.

One could say we already knew Carrasco is a great pitcher, but his performance in his postseason debut does inspire some confidence that he can take things to another level in 2018. If the Indians want to get Kluber more rest throughout the year, which they should, Carrasco can become the ace in waiting.

Next: Disagreeing with the negative streak narrative

His performance in Game 3 ultimately doesn’t matter too much in the long run, but it’s a positive to take away if you feel physical pain watching the remainder of the MLB postseason.