Carlos “Cookie” Carrasco made his MLB debut back all-the-way-back in 2009 with the Cleveland Indians. Coming into 2026, he’d made 335 appearances – including 284 starts in 16 seasons – and he’d add to that with the Atlanta Braves last season.
How acquired
The Braves signed Carrasco on July 28, 2025 to a minor league deal and he’d end up making three starts with Atlanta across several big league stints with poor results. Despite his lack of success with the Braves in 2025, Atlanta signed him to minor league deal in early
February 2026 with a Spring Training invitation.
What were the expectations?
Carrasco, who turned 39 prior to the start of the regular season, was veteran organization pitching depth but when injuries set the organization’s starting pitching depth aflame, Carrasco’s value increased as Spencer Schwellenbach, Joey Wentz and Spencer Strider were lost as option to start the season before and during Spring Training.
2026 results
Carrasco’s 2026 results with Atlanta were less about the numbers he produced as it was about what he was able to provide the team by protecting other pitchers. He pitched in eight games with Atlanta, absorbing 16.2 innings allowing 21 hits, including three home runs, while striking out only seven batters. But, he finished six of the appearances he made; with six of those games including more than one inning pitched.
When all was said and done, Carrasco was selected to the big league roster eight times between April 23 and July 9, 2026. He’d opt to sign in the KBO where he’d make 11 starts for the LG Twins in late July.
What went right?
Until his final MLB game, Carrasco had been effective as a junk-baller with a 3.68 ERA in 14.2 innings limiting damage in part by only giving up one walk. His only appearance in a Braves victory was his first, finishing the game in a 7-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on April 23. He twice allowed two runs in four innings of blow-out losses, saving the team’s bullpen from additional innings.
What went wrong?
Although his performance was likley more appreciated by the organization and his teammates than Braves fans, Carrasco’s last big league game in 2026 – a possibly the final one of his career – was his worst. In two innings, he allowed five runs on five hits and a home run and walked twice as many batters has he had coming into the game.
Maybe the worst part about that contest was that he entered the game against the New York Metropolitans in the eighth inning with the Braves trailing 5-3. After working a scoreless eight, Braves manager Walt Weiss left him in the game in the ninth where he proceeded to implode, allowing five runs.
Atlanta would then rally for six runs in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn’t complete a miraculous comeback, falling 10-9.
Despite that final sour experience, it is hard to consider Carrasco’s overall season anything but helpful, despite his 5.94 ERA that was inflated by his July 5th appearance.
2027 outlook
Despite never having been an All-Star, Carrasco has notable 17-year career that include leading the American League in wins and finishing fourth in the AL Cy Young Award in 2017, being honored with the Roberto Clemente Award and AL Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2019 after an in-season battle with cancer. He’s won 105 big league games and tossed 1,704 innings.
Was 2026 the last one for Carrasco?
Maybe, but if he wants to continue his professional career in the U.S., his effectiveness in Korea is likely to bode well for another minor league contract. Given how Atlanta’s organization prioritizes veterans who are good locker room, it shouldn’t be shocking if the Braves given him a minor league deal to at least be a mentor to the organization’s young pitchers in Triple-A.
