Years from now, the state of the Atlanta Braves rotation during the summer of 2025 will be sure to flummox fans who’d long forgotten the travails of finding five healthy starting pitchers. (Or not.) Among the carousel of starters used by the Braves was Carlos Carrasco, a veteran starter who was one of multiple hurlers whose big league debut occurred in the aughts.
The Braves picked up Carrasco from the New York Yankees prior to the Trade Deadline on July 28. He’d signed with the Yankees as a minor league free agent prior to the season and had spent time on the big league roster before being designated for assignment by New York in June. He returned to the Yankees organization, pitching at Triple-A, prior to his trade to Atlanta.
The former international free agent who made his MLB debut with Cleveland in 2009 was called-up to Atlanta on July 31 and spent two weeks on the 26-man roster before being designated for assignment again. He returned on a minor league contract and finished the season with Gwinnett.
What were the expectations?
The 16-year major league veteran is far removed from his 12-year tenure with Cleveland when he was an above average starting pitcher in the 2010s – including his 2017 season that saw him lead the American League in wins and finish fourth in the AL Cy Young Award vote in what was a career season for him. It sounds kind of meager to type, like, “Why do you even care about his performance at this point?” but his career tumbled downhill after he was diagnosed with a treatable form of leukemia in 2019, as he struggled to do anything resembling his prior level of durability and effectiveness. He spent three years with the Mets, only one of whcih was solid, and then returned to Cleveland for another forgettable season, before his 2025 began with the Yankees.
With Atlanta, he was one of multiple break-in-case-of-emergency pitchers pressed into action with the hope that he could either give the Braves four or five innings and maybe keep them in the game before the last remaining flickers of the team’s 2025 season were extinguished.
Performance-wise, he was expected to be a fifth starter type heading into 2025 (sub-1 WAR), with serious questions about health and durability on top of performance concerns.
With the Braves, Carrasco made three starts and allowed 15 runs in 13 2/3 innings while striking out nine and walking seven batters. Combined with his work with the Yankees, he made nine starts, had two other relief appearances, and totaled -0.2 fWAR with a 172/134/120 line over 45 2/3 innings.
In his first start with Atlanta, “Cookie” turned back the clock with a quality start of six innings of three-run ball with five strikeouts in Cincinnati. He was tagged for a two-run homer the second time through, but was left in to complete five innings, which he managed to do while leaving with a 3-1 deficit. The game ended up being absolutely insane starting in the eighth, where the Braves scored eight runs and then the Reds scored eight right back, eventually ending in a Braves win in extras.
That was the highlight of his 2025 time with Atlanta, but the well-respected veteran get the opportunity to finish out the year in Triple-A, and made a total of seven starts with the Stripers, though he didn’t exactly pitch well down there.
That crazy game, though, presaged the fact that the Braves went on to win all three of his starts… somehow.
Carrasco’s 2025 continued a trend of the last two seasons when the right-hander’s strikeout rate was below 20 percent. His fastball zip has also continued to decline to 91.4 MPH. He allowed 10 home runs in 45.2 innings with the Yankees and the Braves.
After that decent outing against the Reds, he was absolutely destroyed by both the Marlins and Mets, putting up a 5/4 K/BB ratio in those two outings compared to his 5/2 ratio against the Reds. Again, the Braves won both of those games, but with no thanks to Carrasco. The Marlins game was particularly awful, as the Braves hit two homers to grab a 2-0 lead in the first, only for Carrasco and the defense to turn in a 5-run inning (including a homer) immediately after.
Also, here’s Cookie throwing a cookie, because you knew it was gonna happen:
Carrasco’s an inspiring guy given his perseverance through and past leukemia. He hasn’t formally announced if he plans to retire or will seek to play again next season. He’ll turn 39 a week before Opening Day, but given the state of starting pitching, chances are someone might give him an minor league contract with a Spring Training invite again in 2026. At this point, he looks purely like replacement-level depth that likely shouldn’t be anywhere higher than seventh on any team’s depth chart, but the spate of pitcher injuries is unlikely to abate, so he’ll probably get a shot in the majors somewhere eventually, even if it’s only for a few games.
There’s a chance Atlanta could bring him back — with or without the Spring Training invite — as a minor league starter who could help mentor younger pitchers while he waits around for an opportunity somewhere.