Tribe adjusts rotation to give Carrasco extra rest
Pitcher still healing from jaw injury in last start
MINNEAPOLIS -- With Carlos Carrasco still dealing with a sore jaw, the Indians felt it made sense to give the pitcher an additional day of rest before his next start.
On Sunday, Cleveland announced that it tweaked its pitching probables for the upcoming three-game series in Chicago, pushing Carrasco's next outing to Tuesday. Right-hander Trevor Bauer, who was originally slated for Tuesday, is now scheduled to start on Monday. Corey Kluber remains the planned starter for Wednesday against the White Sox.
"We talked to Trevor and made sure he felt good about that, which he did," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "It just gives Carlos another day. It really doesn't do anything except give him another day. We just felt like, 'Let's do it.'"
Carrasco was forced from his last start on April 14 after only eight pitches due to being hit on the right side of his face by a line drive off the bat of Chicago's Melky Cabrera. The big right-hander tipped the ball with his glove on the play and walked away with only a bruised jaw. On Friday in Minnesota, Carrasco worked through a 35-pitch bullpen session with no issues.
Carrasco's only lingering issue at the moment is some soreness while eating.
"I don't think he's eating candy apples," Francona quipped. "He's OK."
In his last outing, Carrasco faced only two batters before exiting with the injury, but the righty was still hung with a hard-luck loss when Cleveland dropped the game, 4-1, to the White Sox. Carrasco did not get the opportunity to build on his stellar season debut on April 8, when he spun 6 1/3 shutout innings against the Astros and piled up 10 strikeouts with only one walk.
Francona said he does not feel Carrasco will have any issues taking the mound again in the wake of his scare last time out.
"Everybody's different mentally," Francona said. "The best thing to do is get back out there and just play the game. Every once in a while, something happens that's out of your control. So, you just play the game."