Guardians’ Carlos Carrasco has nervous spring training homecoming in 4-0 loss to Reds

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Don’t tell anybody, but Carlos Carrasco will be 37 on March 31.

“Don’t say that,” said Carrasco with a slight smile.

Carrasco had just finished his start in the Guardians’ spring training opener on Saturday with a scoreless first inning in a 4-0 loss to the Reds at Goodyear Ballpark.

He said he was nervous and it looked like it. He walked TJ Friedl to start the game and allowed a bloop single to Elly De La Cruz to put runners on first and second.

But he retired Jeimer Candelario on a first-pitch foul pop to first and rolled a perfect 4-6-3 double-play grounder to end the inning. Second baseman Andres Gimenez started the DP with a nice stop.

“As soon I got to the mound, I had a lot of feelings,” Carrasco said. “I pitched here for 11 years. I was so nervous I couldn’t feel the ball.

“I’ve been playing baseball for a long time, but I was so, so nervous going to the mound. I put the first two guys on base. I’m glad I got the guy on (the) first pitch and the ground ball was right there. It’s really good to be here.”

Carrasco is trying to make the staff on a minor league deal after spending the last three years with the Mets. It’s unclear where he fits.

He’s been a starter for the majority of career, but the Guardians have a full house there in Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen and Gavin Williams. He did pitch out of the pen briefly during his first tour with Cleveland.

This may be a homecoming for Carrasco, but he is not ready to retire.

“Yes, I’ll be 37, but I’ve been around a lot of people like Max Scherzer and they’re still looking great,” he said. “They’re throwing hard and working hard.

“I need to keep working with Driveline and all that stuff. I just want to get my velo back. I know it was the first game. There was a lot of emotion there.”

Carrasco says he wants to keep pitching until he’s at least 40.

“I don’t know where (I’ll play), but my body is still there,” said Carrasco. “My arm is still there. I will play until my body says I’m done.”

For Steven Vogt it was his first game as manager. The first time make a pitching change — he removed his former Oakland teammate Adam Oller in the fourth inning — and his first time getting a feel for the dugout when he’s in charge.

It was not his first time to take the lineup card to the plate. He said he’s done that many times as a player.

“There is something so exciting about the first day,” said Vogt. “It’s like the first day of school. You’ve got the new outfit you picked out. You’ve got the haircut and all those things.

“It’s a new beginning. It’s a fresh start and you get to see your hard work pay off for the first time. I think we have 202 games to go.”

Vogt’s first lineup looked like this: LF Steven Kwan, 2B Andres Gimenez, 3B Jose Ramirez, 1B Josh Naylor, RF Ramon Laureano, DH Deyvison De Los Santos, C Bo Naylor, SS Brayan Rocchio and CF Myles Straw.

“I just tried to get a lot of our regulars in there with this being a home game and the next two games (Sunday vs. Seattle and Monday vs. the Padres) being away,” said Vogt. “I wouldn’t read anything more into it than that.”

Saturday morning Ramirez was prowling about the locker room. He was looking for a lineup. Someone showed it to him online and he screamed, “I’m in the lineup today. I’m happy.”

Ramirez is 30. He has played hundreds of spring training games. Why get so excited about a meaningless game in February?

“This is my passion,” he said. “I love to play.”

The Guardians’ best player was asked if he was really surprised to see his name in the lineup. He smiled and said, through interpreter Agustin Rivero, “If I didn’t, I was going to rip it down.”

The Reds hit two home runs in the win. The first one stung because it came off the bat of Will Benson, Cleveland’s No. 1 pick in 2016. Benson hit a long two-out homer in the fourth off Oller.

Tyler Callihan added a two-run homer in the eighth to make it 4-0.

There was something uncomfortably familiar about the Guardians’ offense. They had seven hits, all singles. The Reds also had seven hits, but they hit two doubles and two homers.

Kwan went 2 for 2 with singles through the middle.

“That was vintage Kwan,” said Vogt. “Great at-bats. He threw a couple hits out there. Ran the bases hard. It was great to see.”

The Guardians Cleveland finished 27th in runs and last in homers in the big leagues last year.

Next: The Guardians and RHP Tyler Beede will face Seattle lefty Jonathan Diaz on Sunday at 3:10 p.m. in Peoria, Arizona. The game will be carried on cleguardians.com.

Scott Barlow, Nick Sandlin, Sam Hentges, Eli Morgan, Jack Leftwich and Tylers Zuber are scheduled to follow Beede. Cody Bolton, Kirby Snead, Sean Poppen and Holden Laws will follow Diaz for the Mariners.

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