Carlos Carrasco will return to the Cleveland Indians' rotation on Friday against the Oakland Athletics, manager Terry Francona said on Sunday.
The right-hander has been sidelined since being hit by a line drive to his right elbow in a game against the Minnesota Twins on June 16.
With Carrasco set to return, the Indians optioned right-hander Adam Plutko to Triple-A Columbus and called up left-handed reliever Marc Rzepczynski. Plutko is 4-2 with a 4.66 ERA in seven appearances (six starts) this season.
Carrasco pitched four scoreless innings in a rehab start for Double-A Akron on Saturday night and hit 97 mph on the radar gun, Francona told reporters.
"He was good," Francona said, according to MLB.com. "He texted me this morning and said he's ready to go. So that's good. So what we did is we optioned Plutko, and we got Zep here. So we'll have to make a move when Carrasco pitches, but for [at least four games] we have an extra bullpen arm, and getting the lefty here should help."
Carrasco, who tied for the American League lead with 18 victories in 2017, is 8-5 with a 4.24 ERA in 15 starts this season.
