Mets’ Carlos Carrasco takes step in right direction after brutal stretch

Though the New York Mets lost 3-2 to the Chicago Cubs Tuesday night, Carlos Carrasco’s pitching performance for his team showed his team something reminiscent of last season when he went 15-7 with a 3.97 ERA.

“He was crisp. It’s good,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “We’re going to need Carlos the rest of the season to get through this. Today was a good sign. I thought his fastball, you could tell he felt comfortable in getting it when he needed to.”

After four consecutive poor outings, the 36-year-old right-hander went five innings and allowed just two runs on three hits and two walks. Carrasco started off well with strong fastballs and held his own throughout the five innings.

“Tonight reminded me a little bit of the start in Arizona [he went eight shutout innings on July 6]. He had all his pitches and all of them were crisp,” Showalter said. “You could see the reactions of the hitters, they could kind of tell you that they had to honor his pitches… We’ve seen him pitch well as evidenced by the way he pitched last year… I’m hoping he’s going to finish strong for us.”

Carrasco’s previous four starts were below expectations for the Mets and himself, going 0-3 with a 12.33 ERA and just nine strikeouts, putting further strain on a rotation that lost Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer to the trade deadline.

Carlos Carrasco (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Needless to say, a solid start was refreshing for the veteran.

“It feels pretty good, surprised myself every time I checked the fastball,” Carrasco said. “Feels great and I think everything I was throwing today all my pitches went for a strike. I think it was my arm, leadup I think it was getting too short and today I just was able to get it to be a little longer, so I’m pretty sure that’s where the buildup came from and I felt under control.”

There isn’t much else to play for this season in terms of a team scale. The Mets’ trade-deadline strategy indicated that they’re gunning for a top-six draft pick rather than a playoff spot. But Carrasco’s contract is up at the end of this season and a 6.40 2023 season ERA isn’t going to help his prospects in free agency.

“I think it’s just about finishing strong and more importantly, to stay healthy,” Carasco said.

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