Resilient Carrasco keeps his injury in perspective
PORT ST. LUCIE — Carlos Carrasco is keeping his latest injury in perspective as he navigates another rehab. The right-handed pitcher sustained a Grade 1 hamstring strain Thursday while he was doing conditioning drills on the field following his live batting practice. Carrasco’s latest injury developed while he was ramping back up from right elbow soreness.
Carrasco’s 20-pitch, one-inning outing, in which he retired three of the five batters he faced, went well Thursday. Mets manager Luis Rojas and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner liked what they saw from the righty and called it a “really good day” for him. He was scheduled to continue progressing with a side session and another live batting practice in five days.
Then the setback happened. Sticking to his usual post-outing routine, Carrasco did a handful of sprints, and on sprint No. 7, his right hamstring became a nuisance.
“I didn’t feel any tightness, nothing like that,” Carrasco said. “It just popped, the feeling.”
Carrasco waited patiently for his MRI results to return with good news. But the exam revealed a Grade 1 hamstring strain, which is the lowest possible grade for a tear. Carrasco said he has not been given a timeline by the Mets medical staff, but typically these injuries take about 6-8 weeks to heal.
He joined the Mets in early January alongside Francisco Lindor after spending his entire 11year big-league career with the Cleveland Indians. Though some might expect Carrasco to be frustrated by a hamstring strain that will push his Mets debut back to at least May or June, the starter was content.
“Frustrated is not a big word for me,” Carrasco said. “I’ve been through a lot. This is nothing for me. I’m just going to get ready and pitch.”
Carrasco was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in 2019. There was cancer in his blood. He was faced with the biggest challenge of his life to that point, and it remains a useful moment of perspective for him. Carrasco, riddled with chemo treatments and a myriad of energy-depleting medical exams, fought his way back to the mound in 2020.
After a year of putting his body through hell, he didn’t just perform, he excelled. Carrasco pitched to a 2.91 ERA across 12 starts and 68 innings in last year’s 60-game season. He overcame the largest obstacle he was ever dealt. So, you might understand if by now a hamstring strain feels minimal to him in comparison.
“When somebody told you that you had cancer, that’s completely different,” Carrasco said. “With the elbow a couple weeks ago, now this, I can say like I’ve said before, this is nothing for me. I can walk away from this. I’m just going to take it day by day and we go from there.”
Carrasco has previously dealt with a hamstring strain. He suffered a strain of his left leg in April 2016 while covering first base on a ground ball. He missed almost six weeks with that injury and returned in June to record a 3.47 ERA across 21 starts.
He has not yet been given the green light to play catch and keep his arm ready while he rehabs from the right hamstring strain. That should be next step in the coming weeks. But Rojas said Carrasco, who was the first player in the Mets facility on Saturday, has progressed very well in the three days since he sustained the injury.
“He’s had a better day each day,” Rojas said.
Carrasco’s positive mentality has been a constant since he arrived at Mets camp last month. It’s refreshing to see a professional baseball player keep a forward-looking perspective while he rehabs from an injury that would be a point of concern for most others in his position.
But the road he took to reach that level of fulfillment was full of adversity. Carrasco is embracing his next challenge and is looking forward to the day he can pitch in front of Mets fans who he said have supported him since he joined the club earlier this year.
“Man, we are human beings,” Carrasco said. “I didn’t know the injury was coming. If I knew that, maybe I didn’t run that day. We are human beings, we are completely different, and if something is going to happen, something is going to happen. No matter what day it’s going to be — today, tomorrow — you never know what’s going to happen.”