Carlos Carrasco: the artistic soul of the Cleveland Indians

By César Augusto Márquez

When the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees play Game 5 of the American League Divisional Series on Wednesday, waiting in the bullpen for a possible call will be righty Carlos Carrasco, armed with a hearty laugh and one of the best pitching repertoires in baseball.

Somewhat overshadowed by the Indians’ success, which included 102 victories, a 22-game win streak and a second-straight Central Division crown, was the emergence of the Venezuelan-born Carrasco as one of the top starters in the league. In his eighth season, he went 18-6 with a 3.29 ERA, matching teammate Corey Kluber, the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw and the Royals’ Jason Vargas for the major-league lead in wins.

And Carrasco, 30, did all this three years after undergoing a noninvasive procedure to correct a heart palpitation condition that caused his heartbeat to accelerate to more than 120 beats per minute.

In fact, on the anniversary of his “minor” surgery last Sunday, he started Game 3 of the ALDS, going 5.2 innings while striking out seven, allowing three hits and not permitting a run in a Cleveland loss. He could very well get the nod to come in as relief in Game 5, considering the stakes.

The Cookie Monster

Carrasco comes at you with fastballs, curves, sliders and changeups. He’s played the game since he was 4, raised in Barquisimeto in northwestern Venezuela by working-class parents. He was taught how to play by a mother who loved softball and who served as his first catcher.

It’s hard not to chuckle when you hear that his nickname is “Cookie,” bestowed by teammates who observed his snacking habits. But Carrasco, sweet tooth and all, rarely crumbles on the mound. This season, his changeup generated the most number of groundballs among starters who qualified for the ERA title. Of his changeups put into play, 77 percent ended up bouncing in the infield.

Not that batters had much luck with that pitch. They hit it to the tune of .127 and slugged a league-low .136.

Carrasco threw 494 changeups in all and allowed only one extra-base hit — a measly double — while striking out 36.

His slider was even more lethal, producing 100 strikeouts and a major-league high 54 percent whiff/swing, the percentage of swings a batter misses on.

Carrasco peaked when the Indians went on their historic win streak, the second-longest in major-league history. He allowed two earned runs and one walk in 29 innings while striking out 34.

A light-hearted spirit

For fun, Carrasco will impersonate teammates. Or reporters, like the time he borrowed a mic to broadcast designated hitter Edwin Encarnación’s movements around the clubhouse.

And, with fellow starter Trevor Bauer, he decorates baseballs and turns them into works of art — mini-portraits, so to speak, of the Indians.

“It all started one Sunday when we were getting beat up by the Angels in Anaheim and I started taking apart a baseball,” Carrasco said in Spanish in an interview with La Vida Baseball at Yankee Stadium. “I found out I could do this when I helped my daughter with a school activity. It’s what inspired me to decorate baseballs.”

Bauer comes up with the concept and contributes the facial features. Carrasco handles the rest, using markers or pens to personalize the balls. They have become collector’s items and helped the team bond as they attempt to return to the World Series for the second consecutive year.

Carrasco missed the Fall Classic last season with a broken bone in his right hand, watching up close as his team lost the World Series to the Chicago Cubs in Game 7, in 10 innings.

Deeper meaning in life

If the Yankees derail the Indians’ dreams of redemption, Carrasco will have to console himself with his good deeds. For the third straight year, he is the team’s nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, this time for running the Carlos Carrasco Foundation, which he started with his wife Karelis to fund early childhood education in Cleveland and back home in Venezuela. The foundation sponsors programs in both countries partly because Carrasco became a naturalized U.S. citizen last year.

“We think that it’s extremely important that Latino children get a chance to complete their schooling,” Carrasco said. “We started in Cleveland and expanded to Venezuela. We also promote health and nutrition. My objective is to help. I don’t want to forget where I came from, and I want to remain humble. And it has helped teach my two daughters and three sons about the importance of having values.”

Carrasco said he learned about sharing and giving from his parents, Luis and María, but it was a gesture by one of his daughters that actually prompted him and wife to engage in philanthropy on a larger scale.

“We thought about working with a foundation that helps cancer patients in Venezuela,” Carrasco said. “Looking at pictures of sick children made us tear up. And our daughter Camila asked what was making us cry. My wife explained to her what cancer was and how the children had to undergo chemotherapy and radiation.

“The next day, Camila cut off her hair. She wanted to donate it to the foundation and stand in solidarity with the children. To see her with her hair in her hand broke my heart, and inspired me to commit to my country, Venezuela.”

“My parents taught me to be generous and humble, and it’s what I want to pass on to my children,” Carrasco said.

Pitching, painting baseballs, philanthropy. Win or lose on Wednesday, Carrasco has earned himself quite a Triple Crown.

Featured Image: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images Sport