Mets Starting Pitcher Hits Free Agency

New York Mets pitcher Carlos Carrasco became a free agent on Thursday, as the conclusion of the World Series allowed players without contracts for 2024 to begin the process of finding a new deal.

Carrasco made news late in the season after he had to go on the injured list after he dropped a 50-pound dumbbell on his right pinkie finger.

Carrasco had an up-and-down season for the Mets. They moved Carrasco to the 15-day injured list on April 18 with right elbow inflammation. After he rehabbed at Double-A Binghamton, he returned to the Mets on May 19 and was a part of the rotation until he injured the pinkie finger.

In 20 starts with the Mets, the veteran right-hander went 3-8 with a 6.80 ERA with 66 strikeouts and 38 walks in 90 innings.

It was his third season with the Mets, as he joined the team in 2021 as a part of the Francisco Lindor trade. That season he went 1-5 with a 6.04 ERA in just 12 starts as he tore a hamstring in Spring Training and needed most of the season to recover.

He bounced back in 2022, as he went 15-7 with a 3.97 ERA in 29 starts. He was his best season since his 2018 campaign with Cleveland, when he went 17-10 with a 3.38 ERA.

Carrasco broke into the Majors in 2009 with Cleveland and remained with the franchise through the 2020 season. With the Guardians he went 88-73 with a 3.77 ERA, with his best season coming in 2018, as he went 18-6 with a 3.29 ERA. He finished fourth in American League Cy Young voting that season.