Carlos Carrasco details 'emotional' call to make Guardians 2024 Opening Day roster

The trail of crumbs has led Cookie back to Cleveland's pitching staff.

The Guardians a few days ago informed Carlos Carrasco that he'd be making the Opening Day roster. Carrasco and Tyler Beede are both breaking camp with the team as non-roster invitees. One will occupy the fifth spot in the rotation, while the other will open the season in the bullpen.

For Carrasco, it's a return to Cleveland after a three-year retreat in New York following the blockbuster trade that sent him and Francisco Lindor to the Mets prior to the 2021 season.

But entering this spring, Carrasco's inclusion on the Opening Day roster was anything but a sure thing. Even 37-year-olds can have some nerves, especially those will despite their history in the league still need to prove themselves in camp.

Earlier this spring, president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti made it clear that the team was thrilled to have Carrasco back in camp, as he has one of the most positive dispositions of any human being you're likely to meet. But he still had work to do to show he was warranted a roster spot.

Carrasco, who turned 37 last week, was filled with nerves.

"Even when I pitch, every time when I talked to Chris, every time when I talked to Stephen [Vogt], I just get nervous," Carrasco told reporters in Goodyear, Ariz. "I don't know — that's me. But it's something that, that feeling is really good for me. I love it to feel that way."

Carlos Carrasco returns to Cleveland pitching staff after three years away

Carrasco was a staple in Cleveland's rotation for 11 seasons, often as the No. 2 starter behind two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber. But following the trade to New York, he struggled to find success and had a combined 5.23 ERA in three injury-filled seasons. He hasn't pitched more than 152 innings since 2018 and last year had a 6.80 ERA in 90 innings.

Over the offseason, Carrasco worked with Driveline, as did Shane Bieber. The results remain to be seen, but he did surprise himself early this spring with how hard he was throwing.

He never assumed anything when it came to earning his Opening Day roster spot, though, which made the team's announcement an emotional one for him.

"It was really [emotional] because every time, even when I was here in all those years that I signed the contract in '18, '18 and '19, I was coming here to get a job. I never felt like, 'OK, I already have this,'" Carrasco said. "I'm always working hard. I like to do it that way. That's the way that I build up myself in this job. And when I received that call and then told me that I made the [roster], I was so happy."

Additional opportunities to make the roster arose as the Guardians pitching staff was ravaged with injuries this spring. Starting pitcher Gavin Williams and relievers Trevor Stephan, James Karinchak and Sam Hentges will all open the season on the injured list.

And now, at 37, "Cookie" is back, either as the club's No. 5 starting pitcher or as a multi-inning option in the bullpen.

Tyler Beede turns stint in Japan into Guardians Opening Day roster spot

Beede's career, meanwhile, has taken him all over the globe. His next destination is a spot on Cleveland's pitching staff in some form, at least to open the 2024 season.

Beede has pitched in the majors in parts of four seasons in his 11-year professional career, owning a combined 5.34 ERA in the big leagues. After pitching with the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates in 2022, he spent last year in Japan before joining Guardians camp as a non-roster invitee hoping to again break into the majors. The mission back to the states was successful, and Beede showed enough this spring to carve out a role on Cleveland's pitching staff.

"I came into camp with a few new pitches and just a completely different pitcher than I have been in year's past," Beede told reporters in Goodyear, Ariz. "So I think just the work that I put in in the offseason and seeing it come into fruition in camp, execution of certain pitches and a belief in myself, I'm just happy with how I've competed."

Vogt and Beede had crossed paths before, so there was some familiarity there, though Beede still had some things to prove this spring.

The signs of growth for the now-30-year-old Beede were evident to Vogt after a few years away.

"Watching him from when I knew him back in '19 … the stuff is elite," Vogt told reporters in Goodyear, Ariz. "It's really good stuff, but he has a different focus about him. It was like he's determined, he knows what he's been through, he knows what he's had to do in order to get back to this place."

And due to the roadblocks of spring training, a 37-year-old returning fan favorite and a well-traveled 30-year-old with some new tricks will both plays roles in filling a couple of vacant roster spots early on this season.

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Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Threads at @ByRyanLewis.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Guardians Carlos Carrasco makes 2024 Opening Day roster