Ex-Cy Young contender Carrasco embracing weight of expectations in KBO

Every once in a while, a player of Carlos Carrasco's stature decides to take his talents to Korea and prompts fans to ask why: As in, why did someone like Carrasco, a former Cy Young Award contender who won 112 games across 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) and who was once a key part of a rotation on a World Series-bound club, come to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO)?

With 343 MLB games under his belt at age 39, walking into the sunset would have been a perfectly fine move for Carrasco, who led the American League with 18 wins in 2017 and finished fourth in the Cy Young Award voting that year.

However, after splitting his 2026 season between MLB and the minor leagues for the Atlanta Braves, the Venezuelan right-hander signed with the LG Twins last week for $360,000 to begin a new chapter.

"I would like to thank God for this opportunity.

I felt like this was a great opportunity, and the team really sold me on how they needed me here," Carrasco said through an interpreter in his first KBO media availability Tuesday at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.

He had his first pract ...