Cleveland Guardians rotation down another arm as veteran lands on injured list

The starting rotation of the Cleveland Guardians just lost another member due to injury. 37-year-old veteran Carlos Carrasco has been placed on the injured list with an acute neck spasm, according to a report. The team has brought up Xzavion Curry to take his place on the roster in a corresponding move. Carrasco was supposed to start Tuesday's contest with the New York Mets, facing the only other major league team he has been on for the first time. 

It was clear that something was up earlier in the day, as The Athletic's Zack Meiselmade note of Curry having a locker in the Guardians clubhouse. The only question was why Curry had a locker, and now that reason is known.

Carrasco is the third starting pitcher for the Guardians currently on the injured list, making an already thin group even thinner. Cleveland is still waiting for Gavin Williams to make his 2024 debut, while they will be without the services of Shane Bieber for the rest of the season. Being down three starters will make it tough to navigate their schedule, but that is what they are being tasked with at this time.

The results from Carrasco this season have been somewhat inconsistent this season, having starts that were sort of all over the map. What is truly unfortunate here is that it seemed like Carrasco had settled in a bit. After giving up 13 runs in 9 innings across two starts to Boston and Houston, Cookie had limited the Angels, White Sox, and Rangers to six runs in 18 over his last three starts. While there were questions about the sustainability and longevity of these types of outings moving forward, Carrasco was able to provide good starts at a time when the Guardians really needed him. 

What must be remembered here is that it was unlikely that Carrasco was in the Guardians' plans this season, at least in terms of being a rotation starter. Cleveland signed him to a minor league deal this past offseason, and it was an injury to Williams that resulted in him making the Opening Day roster. Losing Bieber for the year pretty much locked him into a roster spot for the rest of the season, barring a complete collapse in terms of results. Now, without Carrasco, they will yet again be forced to find someone to take a spot in their starting rotation.