Indians’ Carrasco to miss 4-to-6 weeks; Brantley activated

The Cleveland Indians may have finished off a sweep over the Tigers in Detroit Sunday afternoon, but the club may have suffered a significant loss to their starting rotation. Right-handed starter Carlos Carrasco suffered a left hamstring injury during Sunday’s start, an injury that will force him to go on the disabled list for at least the next 4-to-6 weeks. The move allows the Indians to activate outfielder Michael Brantley without having to send down any of their young outfielders — at least for the time being.

How did the injury occur, you ask? In the third inning, Carrasco was running to first-base on a routine play to first baseman Carlos Santana. Just before reaching the base, the pitcher pulled up and seen grabbing his leg. After somehow touching the base for the out, Carrasco laid on the ground in obvious pain.

At first glance, the injury looked to be severe and for what it’s worth, he was not able to put any weight on his left leg as he came off the field and went down to the clubhouse. The Indians’ play-by-play staff speculated as to what the injury was as Carrasco’s form lent suspicion of anything ranging from knee to hamstring to ankle.

Following the injury, Trevor Bauer — who will likely start in place of Carrasco while he is on the DL — pitched three and one-third innings to earn his first win of the season. During the post-game press conference, manager Terry Francona praised Bauer’s effort in relief, per cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes.

“Carlos goes down and that’s deflating. But Trevor came in and really did a good job. It’s easy for us to say, ‘Stay ready because you’re going to get an opportunity.’ But to his credit he has really stayed ready.”

In case you forgot, Bauer lost his spot in the rotation and was moved to the ‘pen prior to the season in a very surprising move so the right-hander has plenty of experience as a starter.

The sobering news of Carrasco, although it didn’t take away from the fact that the Indians just pulled off a sweep in Detroit, put the win in perspective. In the event the Tribe needs to add an arm at some point, they could send center fielder Tyler Naquin to Triple-A Columbus, but the rookie has had a productive last few weeks, hitting .303 through 33 at-bats on the season.