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January 4, 2016Ohio State beats Notre Dame in Fiesta Bowl: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
January 4, 2016With the 2016 MLB season just months away, many reporters have begun writing about who will be breakout players, overpaid, underrated, and even overrated in 2016. According to ESPN’s Christina Kahrl, Cleveland Indians right-handed starter Carlos Carrasco will be a breakout pitcher in this upcoming season.
According to Kahrl, Cookie is the third pitching candidate that will be a breakout pitcher, with newly signed San Francisco Giants righty Jeff Samardzija and Detroit Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander coming in ahead of him.
Carrasco is coming off the best season in his career as a full-time starter. The 28-year old went 14-12 with a 3.63 ERA, 216 strikeouts, 43 walks, and three complete games in 183.2 innings. With another strong season, Carrasco could establish himself as a mainstay in the Indians rotation for years to come.
Kahrl had some very kind words for the Indians’ starter:
Carrasco just made his first 30-start season and went 14-12 with 10.6 K/9, so you might argue that he already has broken through. But looking at his peripherals and his second-half performance, you can see how he might just be getting started. His second-half strikeout rate of 32.5 percent trailed only guys named Strasburg and Kershaw among big league starters, and his .071 well-hit average against after the break trailed only the Cy Young Award-winning stretch run of Jake Arrieta (.067). Add in the negative impact he suffered dealing with the Indians’ first-half woes on defense before they called up shortstop Francisco Lindor — allowing an ugly .339 BABIP — and you can see why they were wise to hold onto Carrasco instead of shopping him: He’s not just a solid starter, he’s an ace coming into his own.
In his six-year career, Carrasco has a 33-38 record, while having a 4.08 ERA and totaling 520 strikeouts, 155 walks, and six complete games. He agreed to a three-year, $22 million contract extension with the Indians just prior to the start of the 2015 season.
After signing with the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent in 2003, Carrasco has been with the Indians since 2009. In what has been a whirlwind of a career with Cleveland, one that has included being put in the bullpen and getting hit in the face by a come-backer just a couple weeks into the 2015 season, the righty seems to have (finally) solidified his spot in the Indians starting rotation.
The rest of the list:
4. Patrick Corbin, Arizona Diamondbacks
5. Raisel Iglesias, Cincinnati Reds
6. Drew Pomeranz, San Diego Padres
7. Arodys Vizcaino, Atlanta Braves
8. Tyler Duffy, Minnesota Twins
9. Tyler Skaggs, Los Angeles Angels
10. Adam Warren, Chicago Cubs
Honorable Mention: Jon Neise and Ryan Vogelsong, Pittsburgh Pirates
7 Comments
No. Please remove him from all articles immediately.
If he doesn’t I blame nj0 because he’s the one who converted me into the Carrasco church.
Before that, I use to be a minister at a Laporta congregation.
Because the last 10 starts of 2014 and the entirety of 2015 wasn’t enough of a “Breakout” 🙂
I didn’t like some of those “special” spiritual retreats you had out in the woods so I refused to attend!
What I came here to say. Carrasco is considered a front of the rotation pitcher, one who had Toronto offer the moon and stars for, and Cleveland said no without much hesitancy.
Hard to imagine a better pitcher than the August version of Carrasco. Question is more like is the bullpen strong enough to save his arm for the second half of the season.