Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco says he is being treated for leukemia.
Carrasco made the revelation to a TV station while on a visit to the Dominican Republic, where he was visiting a hospital. He remains positive about his prognosis — saying the condition is “under control” — and believes he will pitch again this season.
The 32-year-old right-hander was feeling lethargic for several weeks in May and told CDN 37 that doctors “saw something different in my blood.”
The Indians put Carrasco on the injured list on June 5 with an unspecified diagnosed blood disorder, saying he was “stepping away from baseball activities to explore the optimal treatment and recovery options” and that they expected him to return “at some point this season.”
The Indians (48-38), who are 6 1/2 games behind the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central and are second in the wild-card standings entering Saturday’s games, have not commented on Carrasco’s leukemia diagnosis.
Carrasco has developed into one of the AL’s steadiest pitchers in recent years. He won 17 games last season and went 18-6 in 2017, when he finished fourth in the AL Cy Young Award voting.
He was 4-6 with a 4.98 ERA in 12 starts this season prior to going on the injured list.
Carrasco, who signed a four-year, $47 million contract in December is 83-68 in 219 appearances (183 starts) in his 10 seasons, all with the Indians.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.