Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco revealed on Dominican television network CDN 37 that he has been diagnosed with leukemia. The righty was shut down on June 5 with an unspecified blood disorder. At the time, Cleveland announced that Carrasco would be stepping away from the sport to explore optimal treatment for what he was battling, and expected him to return later this year. Carrasco is also vocally optimistic about his return to baseball this year, per his interview.
“At the end of May, they shut me down because they saw something different with my blood,” Carrasco told CDN 37 in Spanish. “The doctors got a little worried and they sent me for a blood test, another blood test. The blood levels were off, the platelets were very high. The week after, my wife and I went to the hospital, and they gave us the news that I have leukemia. That’s one of the reasons why I’m not playing right now, but I’ll be back at the end of July.”
The specifics of Carrasco’s leukemia and what exactly a return to the team at the end of the month would entail were not mentioned in the interview.
Prior to going on the IL this season, Carrasco was 4-6 with a 4.98 ERA in 12 starts. He’s just two years removed from his standout 2017 season when he won 18 games with a 3.29 ERA and finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting.