Indians remove Carlos Carrasco from the starting rotation

Carlos Carrasco has been removed from the starting rotation. He will be moved to the bullpen, effectively immediately, with Zach McAllister starting Wednesday's game in his place (McAllister will be on only three days rest, but he threw only 75 pitches on Sunday, and with no game on Thursday, the bullpen should be able to provide 4 innings if needed). Carrasco has made four starts this season, giving up at least 4 runs in each of them, and lasting six innings only once. His strikeout rate has been good, but he's walked hitters at a high rate and given up a lot of hits. His ERA is an ugly 6.95.

Manager Terry Francona was non-committal when asked if the move might be temporary, "I just think that for our team and for him, I think maybe we have a chance to maybe try to get him some more confidence and, at the same time, help us win some games."

Because of Thursday being an off-day, the Indians won't need a fifth start again until next Wednesday (May 6), buying them some time to decide who should be brought up to take his place. Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin are the plausible candidates. Bauer has been the better of the two so far this season (including one spot start for the Indians), and has the higher ceiling of the two, so my money is on him, but each of them will make one more start for Columbus before anyone needs to be brought up.