BREAKING: Carlos Carrasco to miss 3-4 weeks with left oblique strain
The news comes the afternoon after the right-hander left his start after two innings vs Atlanta.
After finally having their starting rotation fully intact for the first time this season, the Mets received some bad news on Tuesday afternoon.
Following his early exit vs the Braves last night, RHP Carlos Carrasco has been diagnosed with a low-grade left oblique strain and will subsequently miss 3-4 weeks on the injured list, the team announced.
Carrasco, 35, is 13-5 with a 3.92 ERA, 3.65 FIP and a 1.8 fWAR in 23 starts for the Mets this season.
This comes as a blow to New York’s rotation that had only finally reached its full strength earlier this month with the return of Jacob deGrom.
This certainly leaves the team in a precarious position when it comes to how they plan on filling that void. The most obvious option, at least in the short-term, would be to re-insert LHP David Peterson into the rotation. Peterson has performed admirably this season, pitching to a 3.17 ERA as a starter this season, and is staying stretched out as a starter in Triple-A in the event he’d be needed. Peterson may have been an option to get a trial run at being a left-handed reliever come September, and that may still ultimately be the case at some point, but I have a hard time seeing that coming to fruition until Carrasco returns to the club.
If the Mets did choose to go elsewhere, the only two viable options would really be Trevor Williams or Tylor Megill, who is still working his way back from a shoulder strain.
Williams will likely be needed this weekend in Philadelphia to make a spot start during a doubleheader regardless, but could be an alternate option to take Carrasco’s place if the team would rather convert Peterson into a bullpen role. The club’s best plan of attack, though, would likely be to keep both of these pitchers in roles they have thrived in. Williams has been far more effective as a reliever (1.16 ERA) than a starter (4.67 ERA), and Peterson has been really productive as a starter while having far less experience out of the bullpen.
Megill doesn’t make sense for the immediate future as he is still on the injured list, now has durability concerns as someone who has been injured twice as a starting pitcher this season and, to be completely honest, is a pitcher that this club is hoping to capture lightning in a bottle with out of the bullpen. With the increased velocity he showed this season and his secondary pitch arsenal, Megill could prove to be a serious weapon in relief in the stretch run of this season and throughout the playoffs, and could potentially provide this team with a similar impact to what Seth Lugo did early on is his days as a reliever.
Joey Lucchesi could potentially be an additional depth piece or spot starter at some point in September, but is not an immediate or particularly reliable option at this point as a pitcher that has yet to appear in any rehab starts after undergoing Tommy John surgery during the 2021 season.
Regardless of how they fill his spot, Carrasco will certainly be missed over the next several weeks as he’s authored a really nice bounceback season after such a lost 2021 campaign with this team.