A final grade for Carlos Carrasco's 3 years in Flushing

Carlos Carrasco is expected to miss the remainder of the season. New York Mets fans aren’t exactly rejoicing, however, there are no tears of sorrow either. In three seasons with the Mets, we came to like the guy for the person he was but never grew too attached to the player.

Carrasco came to New York alongside Francisco Lindor in the blockbuster deal with Cleveland and there was a strong belief Carrasco was almost as important. Unfortunately, he missed all but 12 starts in 2021 and made just 20 more in 2023.

Thanks only to a successful 2022 campaign, Carrasco is able to walk away without much malice. What’s a final grade for his tenure in Flushing?

Carlos Carrasco gave the NY Mets an overall D+ performance in his 61 starts over 3 seasons

The 2021 season is an easy F. Going 1-5 with a 6.04 ERA is unacceptable. Bookending it with his 3-8, 6.80 ERA performance this season in 20 appearances only fuels the flames of disappointment more.

What Carrasco did well was step up in 2022 when just about everyone on the roster seemed to not so much have a career year but outperform expectations together. Going 15-7 with a 3.97 ERA was exactly what the club needed out of the guy they planned to use essentially as their fifth starter. It’s an easy B+ for that season. Sadly, it did little to help the ugliness of years one and three.

Carrasco will head into free agency or possibly even retirement after a dismal stay in New York. He went 19-20 with a 5.21 ERA. Often the victim of some dreadful first innings, it’s very possible he has pitched his final big league game.

The Mets had a decision to let Carrasco walk last winter or pick up his $14 million option. They chose the latter. Having bought into his 2022 showing, it can leave some wondering what could have happened if they went in another direction.