CLEVELAND -- The emoji on his Players’ Weekend jersey features a cookie with a hunk chomped out, and Indians right-hander Carlos Carrasco himself has taken a similarly sized bite out of his Minor League rehab schedule after leukemia treatments put a pause on his 2019 season.
But because the Tribe doesn’t want to put too much on the man it calls Cookie’s plate too fast, Carrasco, who made two relief appearances for Double-A Akron this week, will continue to pitch in Minor League games for the time being.
Carrasco, who has pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings for Akron, will throw around two innings for Triple-A Columbus on Sunday and, in all likelihood, he will make a couple more rehab appearances later in the week.
“I think he’s excited about where he is, and because of that we got excited,” manager Terry Francona said. “But I think we need to remember that he missed three months, and he’s pitched twice. We’ve said it before, but you can’t just care about somebody’s well-being when it’s convenient. That doesn’t make sense.”
There is not enough time for Carrasco to get stretched back out as a starter this season, but the Indians remain hopeful that he can impact their bullpen down the stretch.
“I think you put him in our bullpen, he has the chance to do some special things,” Francona said.
After getting his feet wet with his first outing on Monday, Carrasco said Thursday’s outing felt more familiar.
“I feel back to normal,” he said. “I thought I was gonna feel sore, but it’s not. Completely different. It’s completely different.”
As for the emoji-infused cookie jersey, Carrasco won’t get to wear it in a game, but he was nonetheless in approval of how it came out -- bite and all.
“I just went with what [home clubhouse manager] Tony Amato said,” Carrasco said. “I just wanted a cookie. But they made the design right there with a little bite out of it.”
Next steps for Kluber, Luplow
Though Corey Kluber's schedule in his return from an oblique injury is two weeks off, then a re-examination to see if he’s ready to throw, the Indians were having him get a second MRI as of Friday evening, just in case.
“To see if there’s anything they can do to kinda speed up or enhance the recovery process,” Francona explained. “It’s probably not going to alter the timetable a ton either way, but you just kinda don’t want to leave any stone unturned.”
As for outfielder Jordan Luplow (strained right hamstring), he was running the bases on Friday and he will do so again on Sunday before the Indians determine what the next step in his rehab will be.
“[The training staff] said they were really proud of the way he kinda attacked it while we were gone,” Francona said.
Minutiae of the Day
• Francona was a Fashion Police arrest waiting to happen on Friday. Because the Indians’ players selected the all-black uniforms for Players’ Weekend, Francona (who never wears his jersey) had to wear his usual navy blue pullover on top of black pants. He was going to wear red shoes before the clubhouse staff intervened and got him some black ones.
• The Indians' flight from New York after Thursday’s rain-delayed and rain-shortened game against the Mets at Citi Field didn’t land until around 4 a.m. ET.
“That’s the one advantage of waking up every day and feeling [terrible],” Francona quipped. “It’s the same.”
• Francisco Lindor, aka “Mr. Smile” (complete with emojis) is the Indians’ ambassador for Players’ Weekend. He had finely decorated cleats bearing various phrases and images related to his native Puerto Rico.
“We’re going to enjoy this experience and we look forward to seeing who has the funniest nicknames and coolest bats and cleats, and who had the best ideas,” Lindor said. “I think Players’ Weekend shouldn’t be just one weekend. It should be once-a-month kind of thing.”