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Carlos Carrasco strikes out 12 on 98 pitches in two-hit shutout
Cleveland Indians right-hander Carlos Carrasco credits spending "three months" in the bullpen for why he's turned into one of the league's more dominant starting pitchers. That's a long time to hang out somewhere, but it's been worth it. Carrasco is so good right now, he achieved a stat line Wednesday night that only two other pitchers have done in recorded major league history.
Carrasco tossed a two-hit shutout in a 2-0 victory against the Houston Astros, striking out 12 and needing only 98 pitches to do it. Maximum dominance and efficiency. The only other pitchers to strike out 12 in fewer than 100 pitches in a complete-game shutout: Sandy Koufax throwing a no-hitter with the Dodgers in 1966, and Cliff Lee throwing a three-hitter with the Phillies 2011. All three pitchers coincidentally walked one batter apiece, making for a nice symmetry.
The act of tossing a shutout in fewer than 100 pitches is known as a Maddux, as in Greg Maddux, who did it 13 times from 1988 to 2013 and 14 times in his career. Add in the difficulty of a strikeout component, along with the low-hit amount, and what Carrasco did should be called a Maddux-Koufax. (Sorry, Cliff Lee. There must be something else we can name after you. Interestingly, though, Carrasco and Lee were once traded for each other.)
Against the Astros, Carrasco allowed just a pair of infield singles to Jose Altuve (of course), along with a walk to Jon Singleton. He retired 17 straight between hits.
Via the Associated Press:
''He was so good,'' Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. ''He pounded the strike zone and he had a bunch of at-bats where it was three pitches or less. He's commanding everything, so then they started to try to get a little aggressive and he got some first-pitch outs. He pitched with so much confidence and he just attacked the entire night.''
But let's get back to what created this monster. Carrasco, 27, came into the 2014 season with a 5.29 ERA in 40 career starts. Other than being an underachiever, the only other reason Carrasco was known was for being a headhunter. He began the season as a reliever, but since rejoining the rotation Aug. 10, he's got a 1.17 ERA with 59 strikeouts and seven walks in 54 innings. That's even better than teammate Corey Kluber.
Credit Cleveland pitching coach Mickey Callaway for helping to mold Carrasco into a good starting pitcher. From Paul Hoynes at Cleveland.com:
"For us to be a championship organization, Carlos Carrasco needs to start," Callaway said.
Carrasco got his chance, but he brought the bullpen with him.
He scrapped the wind up and pitched out of the stretch. Instead of sitting at his locker in an empty clubhouse on the days he started, Carrasco started shagging fly balls in the outfield during batting practice with his teammates. His pre-game bullpen sessions that lasted 15 to 25 minutes have been cut way back, which explains why he was in the clubhouse Tuesday so close to the game's first pitch.
"As he continued to pitch and do well in the bullpen, I think Carlos finally realized that he didn't need gimmicks to ease the anxiety," said manager Terry Francona. "He just needed to do what he does.
"His confidence is obviously very high, which it should be. It's one of the more exciting things that's happened this year because pitching is so hard to find."
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David Brown is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rdbrown@yahoo-inc.com and follow him on Twitter!
