Cleveland Guardians notebook: A Carrasco quiz, a Ramírez slam and a World Series rematch

CLEVELAND — Carlos Carrasco threw his first pitch as a big leaguer 5,352 days ago, a month after he was traded to Cleveland in 2009. He made his 200th start with the club Wednesday, the 15th pitcher in team history to reach that mark.

How well does he remember the details of his career with the organization? The Athletic quizzed him.

Who was your first strikeout victim?

Well, I pitched against Detroit. I had three strikeouts. But I don’t know who was the first one.

Brandon Inge.

Ah. Third baseman.

What about the first batter you faced?

Curtis Granderson.

Correct.

Who did you beat for your first win?

Chicago White Sox?

Nope.

Wait. I didn’t win any games in September 2009. In 2010, not the White Sox. Maybe the Twins? Wait, wait, wait. Actually, Kansas City. In Kansas City.

Bingo. Sept. 17, 2010, an 11-4 win. Shin-Soo Choo hit three home runs that day.

Who relieved you in your debut?

Joe Smith?

Nope.

Oh, wait. Jensen Lewis?

Lewis actually relieved the guy who relieved Carrasco: Tomo Ohka.

Oh my God. (Laughs)

Who did you face in your first at-bat?

Johnny Cueto? No, that’s my first hit.

Correct.

OK, who was your second (and only other) hit against?

Jorge Lopez. Roberto Pérez started the inning with a triple. In Milwaukee. Complete game.

Your first at-bat came against Jonathan Sanchez with the Giants.

How did you find all of this? I remember Kelly Shoppach was my first catcher.

That’s right.

You have had 17 different Cleveland catchers.

Seventeen? Damn. Wyatt Toregas. Carlos Santana. Chris Gimenez. Yan Gomes. Bo Naylor. David Fry. Not Austin Hedges yet.

Actually, Hedges caught him once in 2020.

Lou Marson.

Eighteen times.

Eighteen? What about Gomes?

One hundred thirteen.

(Laughs.) Did I miss any catchers in there? Roberto Pérez.

A lot of guys who only caught you once or twice or a few times: Luke Carlin, Beau Taylor, Eric Haase, Kevin Plawecki, George Kottaras, Brett Hayes, Sandy León.

Wow.

Who broke up your no-hitter with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the ninth on July 1, 2015?

Of course I remember that. Joey Butler. He was with Tampa Bay, and the following year he was with us. I almost threw three no-hitters that year — against Tampa, one in Kansas City and one against the Angels.

Do you remember how many strikeouts you had in that game in Kansas City?

Sixteen. My career high.

Actually 15, but he had a Game Score of 98, a mark that hasn’t been topped by a Cleveland pitcher since. He tossed a one-hit shutout against the Royals on Sept. 25, 2015.

The Angels one — remember David Murphy, the lefty who played with us?

In the fifth inning Aug. 4, 2015, Murphy supplied the Angels’ only hit against Carrasco, who recorded a complete-game shutout in a 2-0 win.

The Kansas City one was Jonny Gomes.

Not quite. Alex Ríos, with one out in the seventh.

Who was traded with you to Cleveland for Cliff Lee?

Lou Marson, Jason Donald and Jason Knapp. He was out of baseball (before long). He was a good pitcher, but I think he had injuries. Ben Francisco was traded from Cleveland, too.

Ben Lively, a couple of locker stalls down, leaned over.

Lively: Who was your first hit off of?

Carrasco: Cueto.

Lively: Me, too.

They shared a fist bump.

I pitched that day. Jay Bruce had two strikeouts against me. I blooped one to right field. He just went like (threw as hard as he could), and it was really close (at first). Safe.

Quote of the week

“It went all right. He’s such a competitor and he wants to be in there. I just felt it was really important for him to get two days off his feet and be able to turn his brain off for a couple days. Understanding that it’s a 162-game season, I know he wants to play in 180 of them. He was understanding, and I think in the long run, it’ll be really good for him. He was respectful and all that, but we definitely had a few texts back and forth.” — Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, on telling José Ramírez he was giving him the day off Sunday ahead of a scheduled Monday off day

Final thoughts

• Here are the best 25-game starts in the 124-year history of Cleveland’s big-league franchise:

Twelve Cleveland teams started 17-8, including the two World Series champions (1920, 1948) and the 1995 team, which won the American League pennant.

• Ramírez said the greatest advantage a hitter gains from a lengthy at-bat is learning which pitch a pitcher trusts the most. Chase Anderson abandoned his changeup after two attempts in their battle Thursday afternoon. He then tried a cutter. And then another. And another and another and another and, well, by the 10th pitch of the at-bat, Ramírez wasn’t seeking anything else. After four foul balls, he yanked one into the right-field seats for a grand slam. Vogt said a hitter gets “educated” with each pitch.

Pitch 1: Ball outside, 85.2 mph changeup
Pitch 2: Ball outside, 85.2 mph changeup
Pitch 3: Ball high, 89.2 mph cutter
Pitch 4: Called strike, 89.7 mph cutter
Pitch 5: Swinging strike, 89.0 mph cutter
Pitch 6: Foul, 90.4 mph cutter
Pitch 7: Foul, 89.4 mph cutter
Pitch 8: Foul, 91.2 mph cutter
Pitch 9: Foul, 89.9 mph cutter
Pitch 10: Grand slam, 91.1 mph cutter

José Ramírez launches a grand slam for the @CleGuardians on the 10th pitch of the AB! 🚀

📺 MLB Network pic.twitter.com/mlfvzQCycG

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) April 25, 2024

In the dugout, Hedges predicted the slam a couple of pitches into the at-bat. He had to wait awhile before his prognostication came to fruition.

“Unbelievable at-bat by him,” Vogt said.

• Boston’s Connor Wong is 15-for-33 with five home runs in his career against Cleveland.

At-bats that have come against Cleveland: 6.8%
Hits that have come against Cleveland: 12.5%
Homers that have come against Cleveland: 33.3%

There’s not always a rhyme or reason for a player feasting on a particular opponent, especially when the players on the other team change from year to year.

Vogt treasured every trip to Kansas City, where he posted a .382/.433/.673 slash line in 14 games. That’s his highest batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage in any ballpark.

• Tyler Freeman paused for a couple of seconds with his back buried in the grass, his hips twisted and his glove stretched to his left. He hauled in Tyler O’Neill’s fly to center to start the seventh inning during a scoreless game Tuesday after a wild route to the ball. JT Maguire, who has been working with Freeman for months on his transition to the outfield, asked Freeman what he saw before opining on his path to a catch that had plenty of hearts lodged in throats in the home dugout. Freeman told Maguire the ball took a hard turn after O’Neill caught the 80 mph sweeper off the end of the bat. Wind and rain didn’t help, either. When Maguire studied the video after the game, he watched the ball dart away from Freeman as it whizzed toward him, confirming Freeman’s take.

“We don’t train pretty,” Maguire said. “We train to have false steps and missed reads. We put him in those positions because those situations do happen. You’re not gonna get the cleanest route. You’re not gonna catch the ball at the perfect catch point. The umpire said out, and that’s all that matters.”

• Andrés Giménez used “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” from “The Lion King” as an occasional walk-up song this week, a favor to his 2-year-old son. He said he might mix up his song choice based on his son’s ever-changing interests, which at the moment include the song “Cleveland Rocks,” by The Presidents of the United States of America. The Guardians have long played that song at Progressive Field after the final pitch of a victory.

• It’s been 29 years since Cleveland and Atlanta clashed in the World Series, and though this is merely an April encounter, it could have a heavyweight bout feel, as the Guardians (18-7) and Braves (17-6) will arrive Friday at Truist Park boasting the best record in each league. They also own the two best run differentials in baseball, with Cleveland at plus-49 and Atlanta at plus-44.

(Photo of Carlos Carrasco celebrating after recording the final out of the sixth inning against the Pirates on June 18, 2011: David Maxwell / Getty Images)