Mets place Carlos Carrasco on injured list, recall Jeff Brigham

Ahead of their second of three games in Los Angeles, the Mets have placed veteran right-handed starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco on the injured list with right elbow inflammation and recalled right-handed relief pitcher Jeff Brigham from Triple-A Syracuse. Carrasco’s IL stint is retroactive to April 16.

The team also announced that fellow right-handed reliever Dennis Santana has been outrighted to Syracuse, which means he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment and will remain in the organization.

In three starts this season, Carrasco has thrown 13.2 innings with an abysmal 8.56 ERA and a 7.42 FIP. His most recent outing against the A’s on Saturday went much better than his first two starts, as he gave up two runs on four hits in five innings of work with three strikeouts and a walk. The elbow issue isn’t totally surprising, though, as he missed a scheduled start on the minor league side of spring training the week before Opening Day for what Mets manager Buck Showalter described as routine elbow maintenance.

Until the Mets replace Carrasco in the rotation, they’ll be carrying four starters—Max Scherzer, Kodai Senga, David Peterson, and Tylor Megill—and nine relievers. Presumably either Jose Butto, who started for the Mets on Sunday, or Joey Lucchesi would be next in line to fill in for Carrasco, though it’s worth noting that Dylan Bundy made his first minor league start of the year the other day, albeit with poor results.

As for Brigham, he seemed to have a good shot at making the Opening Day bullpen, but the Mets chose to carry Santana, who unlike Brigham was out of options. One of two pitchers the Mets acquired in a trade with the Marlins early in the offseason, Brigham has some upside. In just two appearances for Syracuse following his own brief injury stint to start the season, he gave up a total of three runs in one-and-two-thirds innings.