Why Yankees pull the plug on Carlos Carrasco after just 32 innings
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Follow UsCarlos Carrasco’s stint in pinstripes didn’t last long. Just 32 innings into his Yankees tenure, the veteran right-hander was designated for assignment Tuesday, a move that felt inevitable after a rocky run in the rotation.
Carlos Carrasco’s brief Yankees tenure ends with DFA
Signed to a minor-league deal in February, Carrasco was supposed to be depth — a safety net, not a solution. But spring training injuries to Gerrit Cole, Clarke Schmidt, and Luis Gil accelerated his timeline. The Yankees needed arms, and Carrasco was next in line.
He never found his footing.
Over eight appearances — six of them starts — Carrasco posted a 5.91 ERA. His command wavered, his velocity dipped, and the Yankees’ margin for error was too slim to wait for a turnaround. At 38, Carrasco has now finished four of the past six seasons with an ERA over 5.00. His best days, it seems, are well behind him.
There was a time, not that long ago, when Carrasco was one of the more reliable arms in the American League. From 2014 to 2018 with Cleveland, he logged 856 innings with a 3.27 ERA. In 2017, he finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting, though he never made an All-Star team. He was never a headline-grabber, but he was consistent — and in Cleveland’s rotation, that was enough.
Then came 2019. After a tough start to the season, Carrasco was diagnosed with leukemia. He missed three months, returned in September, and was named the AL Comeback Player of the Year. A year later, he posted a 2.91 ERA in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.
That version of Carrasco never quite returned.
He was traded to the Mets that offseason as part of the Francisco Lindor deal. His New York chapter — first in Queens, then briefly in the Bronx — was defined more by setbacks than success. He pitched to a 5.21 ERA in three injury-plagued years with the Mets, then went back to Cleveland in 2024, where he struggled again (5.64 ERA) before the Yankees brought him in.
With his DFA, Carrasco is now in limbo. He’s eligible to be claimed by any team, but his age and recent performance make that unlikely. If he clears waivers, he could be outrighted to Triple-A, though with more than five years of service time, he has the right to reject that assignment and test free agency.
Yankees look to patch the rotation — again
Carrasco’s departure leaves the Yankees with another question mark in a rotation already held together by duct tape. Yerry De Los Santos was called up Tuesday and could be a candidate to fill innings. The 27-year-old has posted a 2.91 ERA over 10⅓ innings in Triple-A, though he hasn’t started a game this season.
If not De Los Santos, Ryan Yarbrough remains an option. The left-hander gave the Yankees four solid innings in a spot start against the Rays on Saturday and could be asked to stretch out again. For now, Clarke Schmidt is back in the rotation, but his latest outing was delayed due to injury concerns. Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil remain sidelined with no clear return date. Marcus Stroman could begin a rehab assignment soon, but he’s still multiple weeks away from being an option.
The Yankees are improvising, and Tuesday’s move was another adjustment in a season that’s already tested the club’s pitching depth. Whether they’ve found an answer, or just another placeholder, remains to be seen.
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