Mets: Three reasons I’m just as excited to land Carlos Carrasco

Carrasco is an amazing story Mets fans can get behind

As awesome as his statistics are, Carrasco’s greatest triumph in life came off the field. Born in Venezuela, he came to the United States with big league dreams, originally drafted as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.

His English wasn’t very good. So, in his first spring training, he apparently ate Domino’s Pizza every day for 90 straight days. According to Carrasco in an article for the Players’ Tribune, it was because it was the only thing he knew how to order.

Carrasco never forgot his roots and has done plenty of charity work in Venezuela. He has also contributed to the community in Cleveland where he spent his entire big league career up until the trade that made him a member of the Mets.

As part of his charity work, Carrasco would visit children in hospitals with one of his daughters. Inspired, Carrasco’s daughter, Kamila, began to donate her hair to cancer patients.

One might think Carrasco built up enough karma for a healthy life. Shockingly, he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2019.

Carrasco missed several weeks and somehow managed to battle back and return before the end of the season to pitch for Cleveland. The year wasn’t his best statistically. Just getting on the field was a win.

Leading up to what will be the start of his career with the Mets, Carrasco put together a solid final act for the Indians in 2020. He delivered them a 2.91 ERA in 68 innings pitched.

Carrasco has led a fascinating life as a big leaguer. I’m sure we’ll see more. Hopefully, it’s all good news going forward.