Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco is set to undergo testing after feeling some discomfort in his right leg during a workout.
Not the Indians news anyone wanted to hear. During a workout on Wednesday Carlos Carrasco felt discomfort in his right leg. Cookie will undergo testing to determine the severity of the injury on Friday.
Cleveland is already down one pitcher in Mike Clevinger. Clevinger suffered a tear of the medial meniscus in his left knee and underwent surgery. Clevinger’s return timetable is somewhere from six-to-eight weeks. If Carlos Carrasco has a serious issue with his knee that would put the Indians in quite a bind in regards to their pitching rotation. Being down two of their three starters will be a problem. Cleveland would be down to Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale, Adam Plutko and one of Logan Allen or Jefry Rodriguez in their rotation if Carrasco misses significant time.
While Cleveland has their fair share of options, having to use them is not ideal. In a perfect world Cleveland could pick which pitchers they want for their rotation. This seems to setting up to be fairly similar to last season. Having to rely on any arms that are available to them to pitch substantial innings. Luckily for Cleveland, they have pitching depth. The Indians can survive being without one or possibly two pitchers to start the year, it will just be difficult.
The first month of the season will be crucial for the Tribe
While Cleveland’s schedule early on is not all that grueling, a lackluster start could have a massive impact on other players on their team. If Cleveland is double-digit games behind Chicago or Minnesota, expect trades to happen. Unpopular ones. The most popular trade target? Francisco Lindor. Lindor is someone who has been prevalent in trade rumors for quite some time. Lindor’s projected large contract and the Indians reluctance to shell out that much money are not a great match which has led to trade speculation regarding the superstar shortstop for a considerable amount of time.
