Guys come back from being on the injured list all the time. It’s not very often, though, guys come back from the injured list following a cancer diagnosis. It’s even more rare to see them do it after a diagnosis as recent as the one the Indians Carlos Carrasco received.
Carrasco was back yesterday, however, less than three months after being diagnosed with leukemia, pitching out of the bullpen in the Indians’ 8-2 loss to the Rays.
Carrasco entered in the seventh inning to a standing ovation from the Tropicana Field crowd, with players from both teams cheering him from the front of their dugouts. Shortstop Francisco Lindor went to the mound, hugged him and told him, “Welcome back, Cookie. This is you. This is you right here. We’re behind you. Just go and throw the ball.”
Carrasco, normally a starter who will work out of the bullpen down the stretch, worked one inning and gave up two hits, including a run-scoring single to Travis d'Arnaud. The result, of course, is far less significant than the fact that Carrasco was out there, back to work:
