Carlos Carrasco spent over a decade with Cleveland before being traded to the New York Mets. The Guardians signed him to a minor league contract with a path to the majors over the offseason.
Cookie took the mound and pitched the inning of the Guardians' first spring training of the 2024 season. MLB.com's Mandy Bell got the chance to talk with Carrasco after the outing and he was clearly overcome with emotions pitching back in a Cleveland uniform.
"As soon as I got to the mound, I had a lot of feelings," said Carrasco. "I pitched here for 11 years. ... I was so nervous I couldn’t feel the ball. I’ve been playing baseball for a long time, but I was so, so, so nervous going out to the mound."
Carrasco being so nervous to be back pitching for this team is just a testament to how much the city and organization mean to him.
That feeling is more than reciprocated as fans have rallied around him in the past and President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti also mentioned earlier in spring training how great it is to have him back with the club.
Carrasco said "it was a really simple" decision for him to return to the Guardians and it's clear to see why.
His first outing of the spring lasted just one inning as Carrasco issued one walk, gave up one hit, and recorded zero strikeouts, and no runs. He got out of a one-out jam thanks to a tremendous defensive stop made by Andres Gimenez and Brayan Rocchio who turned the double play.
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