CLEVELAND — Officially, Carlos Carrasco earned a 3-4 record to go along with a 2.91 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 12 starts in 2020.
Anybody who has followed Carrasco's story, however, knows that the impressive nature of his 2020 season went well beyond his box scores.
One year removed from a battle with leukemia that cost him a significant portion of the 2019 campaign, Carrasco reestablished himself as one of the top pitchers in the American League this past season. For his efforts, the 33-year-old right-hander was voted as the 2020 American League Comeback Player of the Year in the publication's annual survey of players and managers.
"Some things seem more obvious than others in players’ minds. At least, that was the case in the voting for AL Comeback Player of the Year. Carlos Carrasco of the Indians was the easy winner of the 2020 award, as he received 31 of the 81 votes cast in the category (a 38 percent plurality)," The Sporting News' Jason Foster wrote.
"Carrasco was the obvious choice for many players as he continues his comeback from a leukemia diagnosis in June 2019, which kept him off the field for two months. He returned to pitch out of the bullpen in September of last year and, coincidentally, received the Players’ Choice vote for MLB’s own 2019 Comeback Player of the Year award."
Carrasco was the only Indians player to win any of the Sporting News' categories in this year's poll, although pitcher Shane Bieber finished second behind Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu for Player of the Year.