Indians' Carlos Carrasco to Be Activated for Sunday Start in Return From Leukemia

It's been a trying season for the Cleveland Indians' pitching staff, most notably right-hander Carlos Carrasco, who was shockingly diagnosed with Leukemia in early July after 12 lackluster starts with the team.

But Cookie has been on the road to recovery, having made his first rehab start early last week, followed by another at Triple-A Columbus a couple of days ago.

Now, he's ready to return to the big league club. The Indians will activate him on Sunday and plan to use him out of the bullpen.

If Carrasco can work on returning to form over the next few weeks during the stretch run, the Indians could have one of the deepest rotations/pitching staffs in the MLB come playoff time, especially since they're still awaiting the return of Corey Kluber, who suffered a setback in his last rehab outing.

Carrasco has been atop his game from 2016-2018, so his veteran presence on a staff alongside Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber, Adam Plutko, Aaron Civale and Zac Plesac should go a long way.

Carrasco will have to make an impact out of the bullpen before returning to the rotation, so Indians fans will be pulling for the veteran to continue his upward trajectory.