Carlos Carrasco Bio
Carlos Luis Carrasco, nicknamed “Cookie,” is a Venezuelan-American professional baseball pitcher for the Atlanta Braves organization of Major League Baseball (MLB). Born on March 21, 1987, in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, he has previously played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians and Guardians, the New York Mets, and the New York Yankees. Listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 224 pounds, he throws and bats right-handed. Over a long major league career, he has earned recognition for his work on the mound and for his resilience off it.
Carrasco first reached the majors as a highly regarded prospect and developed into a durable starter, appearing in MLB every year since his debut. He has built a reputation for strikeout stuff, mid-rotation consistency, and a comeback story that includes recovering from cancer and returning to contribute at the highest level. He is also known for his charity work in Venezuela, Colombia, the United States, and Africa, which has made him one of the more community-minded players of his generation.
Early Life and Background
Carrasco was born in 1987 in Barquisimeto, the capital of Lara state in Venezuela. Like many Venezuelan prospects, he grew up surrounded by baseball and was playing the game by the age of 10, initially as a third baseman rather than a pitcher. His arm talent quickly became obvious, and by the time he was 16, he was spotted by a baseball scout in his home country. He was brought to the attention of Sal Agostinelli, the Philadelphia Phillies’ international scouting director, and impressed evaluators with a fastball that already sat around 91 miles per hour.
At a young age, Carrasco also learned to throw left-handed on his own, in addition to his natural right-handed delivery, though he does not consider himself ambidextrous. That unusual background helped him understand mechanics from both sides and contributed to a fastball and changeup combination that scouts later graded as the best in the Phillies’ system. His family background in Venezuela, combined with the early scouting process, set the stage for a professional career that began when he was still a teenager.
Carrasco left home as a teenager to pursue professional baseball, a common path for Venezuelan players. The transition included a difficult cultural adjustment in the United States. In a later Players’ Tribune article, he described eating Domino’s Pizza every day for 90 straight days during his first spring training because it was the only food he knew how to order, and how he barely spoke with teammates in his early years because he had not yet learned English. He became a United States citizen in August 2016.
Path to Major League Baseball
Carrasco signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as an undrafted international free agent on November 25, 2003. He moved steadily through the lower minors, spending the 2006 season at Single-A with the Lakewood BlueClaws, where he posted a 2.26 earned run average (ERA) in more than 159 innings. In 2007, he split the year between Single-A Clearwater and Double-A Reading, and on August 21, 2007, he threw his first professional no-hitter. That winter, he appeared on the World roster of the 2007 All-Star Futures Game after previously taking part in the 2006 edition.
Entering the 2007 season, Carrasco was ranked as the top prospect in the Phillies organization and the 41st-best prospect in all of baseball. He held the top-prospect tag in the system again entering 2008, with scouts calling his fastball and changeup the best offerings in the organization. On July 29, 2009, the Phillies traded him, along with Jason Donald, Lou Marson, and Jason Knapp, to the Cleveland Indians for Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco. Carrasco made his major league debut on September 1, 2009, and although he went 0-4 with an 8.87 ERA in five starts that September, the path to the majors had officially been cleared.
Carlos Carrasco Career
Early Career (2009-2014)
Carrasco’s first two seasons in Cleveland were interrupted by Tommy John surgery. After going 2-2 with a 3.83 ERA in seven starts in 2010, he struggled to an 8-9 record and 4.62 ERA in 2011, when a hit-by-pitch incident against the Kansas City Royals led to a six-game suspension. He underwent elbow surgery in September 2011 and missed the entire 2012 season, then returned in 2013 with mixed results before being optioned back to Triple-A Columbus. The breakthrough finally came in 2014, when he appeared in 40 games for Cleveland, including 14 starts, and posted an 8-7 record with a 2.55 ERA and 140 strikeouts in 134 innings, re-establishing himself as a reliable rotation piece.
Cleveland Indians Breakthrough (2015-2020)
On April 7, 2015, Carrasco signed a four-year, $22 million extension with the Indians that included club options for 2019 and 2020. That season showed his growing consistency, as he went 14-12 with a 3.63 ERA and 216 strikeouts in 183 2/3 innings. In 2016, he posted an 11-8 record and 3.32 ERA in 25 starts, though a fractured fifth metacarpal ended his season and kept him out of the postseason.
Carrasco’s best regular season came in 2017, when he went 18-6 with a 3.29 ERA, struck out 226 batters in 200 innings, and led the American League in wins. Along the way, on July 7, 2017, he struck out the side on nine pitches against the Detroit Tigers, becoming only the second Indians pitcher ever to record an immaculate inning, following Justin Masterson in 2014. He followed that with a strong 2018, going 17-10 with a 3.38 ERA and 231 strikeouts in 192 innings, and on December 6, 2018, signed a four-year extension through 2022 with a club option for 2023.
His 2019 season became the most important of his career off the field. On June 5, 2019, he was placed on the injured list with what the team first described as a blood condition, and on July 6, 2019, he revealed publicly that he had been diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia, a treatable form of cancer. He returned to the mound on September 1, 2019, against the Tampa Bay Rays, and finished the year with a 6-7 record, 5.29 ERA, and 96 strikeouts in 80 innings. After the season, he was named the 2019 American League Comeback Player of the Year, and later received the Roberto Clemente Award for his community work. In a shortened 2020 season, he went 3-4 with a 2.91 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 68 innings.
New York Mets Era (2021-2023)
On January 7, 2021, the Indians traded Carrasco and Francisco Lindor to the New York Mets for a package headlined by Amed Rosario and Andrés Giménez. A torn hamstring during spring training delayed his Mets debut until July 30, 2021, and he finished that year 1-5 with a 6.04 ERA in 12 starts, a campaign he later described as discouraging because he was pitching through a bone fragment in his elbow that was repaired in October.
He rebounded in 2022, going 15-7 with a 3.97 ERA and 152 strikeouts in 152 innings, including a 4-0 shutout of the Miami Marlins on July 30, 2022, that produced his 100th career win. The Mets picked up his $14 million option for 2023, but he struggled to a 3-8 record and 6.80 ERA in 20 starts, was placed on waivers in late August 2023, and became a free agent after the season.
Cleveland Guardians Return and New York Yankees (2024-2025)
On February 1, 2024, Carrasco signed a minor league deal with the Cleveland Guardians, made the Opening Day roster, and went 3-10 with a 5.64 ERA in 21 starts before being designated for assignment in September 2024. On February 3, 2025, he signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees, made the Opening Day roster, and posted a 2-2 record and 5.91 ERA in eight appearances for New York before being designated for assignment in May 2025.
Atlanta Braves Era (2025-Present)
On July 28, 2025, the Yankees traded Carrasco to the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations. In three starts with Atlanta, he struggled to a 9.88 ERA across 13 2/3 innings before being designated for assignment, electing free agency, and re-signing with the Braves on a minor league contract. He moved on and off Atlanta’s active roster several times over the following months through a series of designations, outright assignments, and free-agent stints, and on June 17, 2026, he was selected to the active roster again, continuing his long career in a bullpen and depth-starter role.
Driving Style and Strengths
Carrasco’s game has always been built around a heavy fastball and a plus changeup, the combination scouts identified as the best in the Phillies system when he was a teenager. He generates swings and misses in bunches, evidenced by his 226 strikeouts in 2017 and 231 in 2018, and pairs that swing-and-miss stuff with the durability to log 180 to 200 innings in a full season. As he has moved into a veteran role, he has leaned on command, tempo, and changeup usage to handle lineups in shorter stints.
Notable Events and Milestones
Among his signature moments, Carrasco threw an immaculate inning against the Tigers in 2017, reached his 100th career win against the Marlins in 2022, and returned from a leukemia diagnosis to pitch in September 2019. He is also a Roberto Clemente Award winner, an honor given for on-field play and community work, recognizing his extensive charitable efforts in Venezuela, Colombia, the United States, and Africa.
Carlos Carrasco Career Wins
Carrasco has compiled a long, workhorse career with milestones spread across Cleveland, New York, and Atlanta. Through MLB play tracked in the available data, he has crossed the 100-win threshold and surpassed 1,700 career strikeouts, numbers that place him among the more durable Venezuelan-born starters of his era.
Major League Highlights
Carrasco’s win totals peaked during his Cleveland run, when he went 18-6 in 2017 and 17-10 in 2018, two consecutive seasons that established him as a frontline starter. He added 15 wins for the Mets in 2022, a year that included his 100th career victory, and has since moved into a hybrid starting and relief role with the Braves, where individual win totals are smaller but innings remain useful.
Other Wins and Performances
Carrasco also had a strong 2015 season, going 14-12 with a 3.63 ERA, and a quality 2014 that saw him post a 2.55 ERA in 134 innings. Earlier, he threw a professional no-hitter in the minor leagues on August 21, 2007, and was a regular on All-Star Futures Game rosters, all part of a development track that prepared him for nearly two decades of major league work.
Carlos Carrasco Family
Family Background and Personal Life
Carrasco grew up in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, in a country where baseball is a national passion, and left home as a teenager to sign with the Phillies. He is married to his wife, Karelis, and together they have five children. Family and community ties have remained central to his identity, and his charitable efforts in his native country reflect that background.
Charity and Community Work
Carrasco and his family have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars, time, and supplies to organizations in Venezuela, Colombia, the United States, and Africa. In 2010, a visit with his then-four-year-old daughter Camila to a hospital inspired her to cut her own hair to donate to young cancer patients, a story Carrasco has often shared. He is also a leukemia survivor, and his personal experience with the disease shaped much of his later philanthropy. He was the 2019 recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award, honoring the MLB player who best exemplifies the game through sportsmanship, community involvement, and team contribution.
2025 Season Performance
Carrasco’s 2025 season was a tour through three organizations. He began the year with the Yankees, where he posted a 2-2 record and 5.91 ERA in eight appearances before being designated for assignment in May. On July 28, 2025, the Yankees traded him to the Atlanta Braves, who were looking for veteran rotation depth. In three starts for the Braves, he struggled to a 9.88 ERA, was designated for assignment, and then re-signed on a minor league contract.
The late 2025 stretch was defined by roster churn rather than box-score results, as Atlanta kept moving him on and off the 40-man roster through a series of designations and outright assignments. Even so, his veteran presence and track record in the American League gave the Braves a familiar arm to plug into the rotation and bullpen when injuries created openings.
Heading into the rest of the 2025 schedule, Carrasco was back on a minor league contract with Atlanta, with the expectation that he could be called up again to provide innings in long relief or as a spot starter. His role in 2025 looked less like a traditional starter and more like a flexible depth option, an adjustment that has become common for late-career pitchers of his profile.
