NEW YORK — The Yankees didn’t need Carlos Carrasco to make his scheduled start this week after Clarke Schmidt was pushed back a few days in the rotation due to side soreness.
Turns out, that was a precursor to the end of Carrasco’s run with the Yankees this season, at least for now.
The Yankees designated Carrasco for assignment on Tuesday afternoon, the day that he would’ve made his next scheduled start had Schmidt remained on schedule.
With Carrasco now off the active roster, the Yankees filled his spot with reliever Yerry De Los Santos. The right-hander threw two scoreless innings when he was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as the Yankees’ 27th man for their doubleheader on April 27. De Los Santos has a 1.74 ERA with the RailRiders over 10 outings to begin this season.
Carrasco was deserving of a spot in the rotation this spring, exceeding expectations as a non-roster invitee. When Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil and Schmidt all went on the injured list, Carrasco was a no-brainer to make the Opening Day roster.
He struggled across eight games (six starts). The 38-year-old posted a 5.91 ERA, burned by slug and hard contact. The former Guardian and Met allowed seven home runs in those eight outings (a total of 32 innings pitched). His last Yankees appearance was three innings in relief on Sunday against the Rays.
Next turn through the Yankees’ starting staff, long reliever Ryan Yarbrough could remain in Carrasco’s rotation spot. He made a spot start a few days ago on the day Schmidt was scratched. Another alternative would be Allan Winans, who has starting experience, although he’s down in Triple-A and would require a corresponding move to get him to the big leagues again.
