Carrasco letting it loose out of bullpen

CHICAGO -- Carlos Carrasco has found a new home in the Indians bullpen after his attempt at starting didn't go as planned.

Carrasco posted a 6.95 ERA in four starts, but has rediscovered his confidence in the 'pen, where he has a 2.57 ERA in eight appearances covering 14 innings.

"You know what, as soon as they put me in the bullpen, I just feel differently, because in the bullpen, you can come in and throw, one, two, three innings, something like that," Carrasco said. "But I feel like my comfort level, everything is good. And I can transfer all that to the rotation when they give me another opportunity in the rotation."

Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway said Carrasco has benefited from the move because the righty is able to rear back and fire his fastball in the upper 90s without hesitation. He wants Carrasco to bring that attacking bullpen mentality with him to the starting rotation, should the move come.

"You know what, out of the bullpen, I just go for it," Carrasco said. "And as soon as they put me in the bullpen, I saw a difference in my velocity. I think it was 95, 98, 99, something like that because you don't have to save anything. … You just go for it."

He may not be able to bring that kind of heat for an entire start right now, but Callaway thinks Carrasco would be able to do so given time.

"Yeah, I mean go ahead and let it go. See what happens. See how deep you get out," Callaway said. "You might make it two innings your first outings, but then third one you'll start building it up to where you can maintain that. I mean, he can throw hard for a reason because he has the ability to. He's just got to build that up to where he can do it for six, seven innings."