Guardians place right-hander on injured list

The Guardians announced to reporters, including Zack Meisel of MLB.com, that right-hander Carlos Carrasco has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to an acute neck spasm. Fellow righty Xzavion Curry has been recalled in a corresponding move. Carrasco was slated to pitch Tuesday, but Curry will take the ball instead.

Carrasco, 37, signed a minor league deal with the Guardians this offseason and was able to crack the Opening Day roster. To this point in the season, he has tossed 45 1/3 innings over nine starts with a 5.16 earned run average. His 17.2% strikeout rate is well below league average, but his 9.1% walk rate is around par while he’s getting grounders at a decent 47.2% clip.

That’s obviously not elite performance, but it will nonetheless add to the pile of injuries in the rotation that are creating a challenging situation for the Guards. Shane Bieber required Tommy John surgery in April and is out for the year. Gavin Williams has been on the IL all season due to some elbow discomfort and has hit some speed bumps in his attempts to get back to the club.

With Carrasco now joining those two on the injured list, the Guards will be down to Logan Allen, Tanner Bibee, Triston McKenzie and Ben Lively in their rotation. McKenzie has a 3.23 ERA this year but is quite lucky to have that figure as low as it is. His 20.1% strikeout rate and 14.1% walk rate are both subpar, but a .224 batting average on balls in play is helping keep runs off the board. That’s why his 4.88 FIP and 5.16 SIERA suggest regression is forthcoming. Meanwhile, Allen has a 4.91 ERA.

Despite those rotation issues, the club is 31-17 and sitting atop the American League Central. Carrasco wasn’t exactly dominating opponents, but removing him from the roster nonetheless thins out the starting depth a bit more. It’s not currently clear how long the club expects him to be out of action.

Curry will step in for now, though his results might dictate whether it’s a spot start or a longer stay. He made one spot start earlier this year and was able to throw five shutout innings against the Red Sox, but he has an ERA of 8.79 in Triple-A this year.

Last year, Curry tossed 95 innings for the Guards in a swing role with a 4.07 ERA. His 7.4% walk rate was strong, but he struck out just 16.6% of opponents. In 2022, he threw 122 innings between Double-A and Triple-A with a 4.06 ERA, 26.2% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate.

If the club decides to replace Curry in the weeks to come, they have options on the 40-man roster, though there are issues with each. Zak Kent has been on the minor league injured list for the past month due to an elbow strain. Wes Parsons hasn’t lasted four innings in any outing yet this year. Darren McCaughan has an ERA of 5.67 over his six Triple-A starts so far this season. Joey Cantillo hasn’t pitched yet this year due to a hamstring strain. Daniel Espino is expected to miss the entire season due to yet another shoulder surgery. Adam Oller is a somewhat intriguing non-roster option as he is striking out 26% of batters faced at Triple-A this year, but a 15% walk rate and some home run troubles have pushed his ERA to 6.85.