AL Central update: Carlos Carrasco, Justin Verlander, Alex Rios

The news is good for Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco after he was hit in the face by a line drive off the bat of Melky Cabrera in the first inning of last night's game.

X-rays were negative and Carrasco showed no signs of a concussion last night, and it appears he will have his next start pushed back by just one day, according to ESPN:

Indians push back Carlos Carrasco's next start by one day after he was hit by a line drive in the face. pic.twitter.com/1hqbTXqC3S

— Baseball Tonight (@BBTN) April 15, 2015

It is a rare bit of good news on the injury front for Cleveland, a team that has been ravaged by injuries so far in 2015,with catcher Yan Gomes on the DL and outfielder Michael Brantley missing time already this season.

Keeping Carrasco in the rotation means Cleveland will not have to dig into its pitching depth, keeping the likes of Danny Salazar and Bruce Chen in Triple-A for the time being.

AL Central News & Notes 4/15:

• Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander continued his rehab of an abdominal injury by throwing a simulated game at PNC Park today. Verlander went three innings in the simulated game, throwing about 45 pitches, according to MLB.com's Jason Beck.

• When he does make it back into Detroit's rotation, Verlander will be looking to bounce back from a rough 2014 season that saw him post a 4.54 ERA, his highest since 2008, in 206 innings. He also saw his K/9 drop to 6.9, the lowest mark since his rookie season in 2006.

• Healthy Anibal Sanchez poised for big year with the Tigers - Bless You Boys
  "With no setbacks in spring and a rough 2014 season behind him, Anibal Sanchez is off to a strong start and should be dominant in 2015."

• After placing Alex Rios on the 15-day DL with a broken hand, the Royals have called up outfielder Terrance Gore from Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Gore had five stolen bases and five runs scored in 11 regular season games, despite recording just two plate appearances. He also had three steals and scored a pair of runs as a pinch runner for the Royals in the postseason.

• As of now, Royals manager Ned Yost said he plans to platoon righty Jarrod Dyson and lefty Paulo Orlando in Rios' spot in the lineup and use Gore off the bench, according to ESPN's Jim Bowden.

• Why Mike Moustakas keeps getting chances - Royals Review
  "The third baseman has stayed with the MLB team (like 99% of the time) since his original callup despite lackluster results. There must be reasons why."

• David Robertson brings strikeouts back to the White Sox bullpen - South Side Sox
  "...That means the White Sox bullpen struck out the side as many times in one evening in 2015 as it did over the course of the whole 2014 season."

• How could the Twins optimize righty/lefty platoon splits? - Twinkie Town
  "Looking at batter splits versus right and left-handed pitchers to see if there are players we can readily identify as 'platoon-able.'"