PORT ST. LUCIE — Carlos Carrasco turned 35 on Monday, but his birthday present came early in the form of a “new elbow.”
After pitching the past seven seasons with a bone fragment in his elbow, the Mets right-hander decided he could not hold off any longer and underwent surgery in October to remove it. Just over a week into spring training, he can already feel the difference.
“It feels like a new elbow for me,” Carrasco said Monday after a workout at Clover Park. “It doesn’t bother me, I can finish all my pitches, everything. So it’s completely different.”
With a healthy arm, Carrasco said his split-changeup — which had lost some of its effectiveness in recent seasons — is “way better,” as is his curveball since his arm action is no longer affected in an attempt to protect his elbow.
Just as encouraging to Carrasco is that he doesn’t believe the combination of the surgery and a shortened spring training will threaten his availability for the start of the regular season. He started throwing again three to four weeks after the surgery and had advanced to live batting practice by the time the lockout ended, putting him in a good spot when he arrived at Mets camp.
Carrasco is scheduled to make his Grapefruit League debut on Thursday against the Marlins, piggybacking with Chris Bassitt the same week fellow rotation mates Max Scherzer (Monday) and Jacob deGrom (Tuesday) made their first exhibition starts of the spring.
“I’m ready for it,” Carrasco said.
Carrasco’s first season with the Mets was derailed when he tore his hamstring in spring training, delaying his debut until the end of July and limiting him to just 12 starts and a 6.04 ERA. But he believes that a clean bill of health and some added comfort over a year removed from the trade to the Mets will help him get back to being the pitcher he was for most of his time in Cleveland.
“It was a lot last year,” Carrasco said. “Getting traded to a new team, new teammates, I was kind of a little bit under pressure because I got traded so I needed to pitch well and all that kind of stuff. Everything happened, my hamstring, for the first time. Then I ended up missing three months of the season. I fell a little bit behind getting to know the league and all that stuff and getting my arm built up.
“But finally I got to pitch last year — not very well, but I learned a lot from last year. Bring it to this year and I can’t wait till games start.”