Indians place Carlos Carrasco on DL with right elbow contusion

The Indians have placed right-handed starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco on the disabled list with a right elbow contusion, as they announced before Sunday’s game:

Carrasco took a Joe Mauer comebacker off his elbow in the second inning of the Indians’ Saturday afternoon loss to the Twins and was forced to leave the game. Manager Terry Francona expressed hope to reporters after Saturday’s game that Carrasco’s injury was just a bad bruise, but he cautioned that doctors wanted to take a closer look at the injury, per The Plain Dealer’s Paul Hoynes.

Carrasco will miss at least one start, but if his injury requires just the minimum 10 days, Cleveland’s off day this Thursday would allow him to return on June 27 or 29 without missing a second turn through the rotation.

With Carrasco exiting the rotation for the time being and incumbent fifth starter Adam Plutko having been pressed into long-relief duty on Saturday, the club recalled rookie right-hander Shane Bieber to start Sunday’s game against the Twins. Bieber made his major-league debut on May 31 but stuck around for only one start, allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk over 5.2 innings.

The team also placed left-handed reliever Tyler Olson on the DL with a lat strain and recalled right-handed reliever Evan Marshall from Triple-A Columbus. Olson was unscored upon in 30 appearances last year but has struggled to a 7.27 ERA and 1.62 WHIP over 28 appearances this season. A lat strain is obviously a rather serious injury for a pitcher and may be the root of Olson’s struggles this season, though it’s worth noting that a “maintenance” disabled list stint wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world for the lefty reliever, who is out of options and clearly could stand to make some mechanical adjustments.