Carrasco makes opening day roster for Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians roster is beginning to come into focus, and a name very familiar to Cleveland fans will be breaking camp with the team.

The Guardians have announced that pitcher Carlos Carrasco, 36, is going to be part of the club's opening day roster.

Carrasco and 30-year-old Tyler Beede are in camp as non-roster invitees and will make the team at least due in part to the injuries of starter Gavin Williams and relievers Trevor Stephan, James Karinchak and Sam Hentges.

The Guardians, however, haven't yet determined how they'll handle the fifth spot in the rotation.

It will be the second stint with Cleveland for Carrasco, who hopes to rebound from a down period with the New York Mets. Carrasco worked at Driveline training center over the offseason.

“I think, first and foremost, he was clear from the beginning of the season that this is the place where he wanted to try to continue pitching, and he felt so strongly about that, that he was willing to come into camp on a minor-league contract and try to earn a spot on this team,” said president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti. “And I don't think anyone was surprised Carlos came out and did exactly that.”

Beede has a career 5.34 ERA over four seasons in the majors and also has pitched in Japan. He's now back in the majors, either as the Guardians' No. 5 starter or as a multi-inning pitcher in the bullpen to start 2024.

“We've seen it from Tyler all spring,” said Guardians manager Stephen Vogt. “The stuff itself plays, four or five pitches that he can use in his arsenal at any time. We've seen him be very efficient – five innings the other day in Kansas City in 60 pitches. So, we've seen him attack the zone, we've seen him finish hitters.”