Carlos Carrasco has his best start as a Met

WASHINGTON — Maybe Carlos Carrasco really is healthy and effective again.

In the Mets’ 4-2 loss to the Nationals on Sunday, he made good on his spring training insistence that he was back to his old self with what was perhaps his best start in orange and blue. Carrasco held Washington to one run in 5 2⁄3 innings, striking out five and walking none.

“Carlos is in a different place right now than he’s been in a while,” Buck Showalter said. “It’s really good to see. You can see it in his face. It was good to see him get off to a good start in the season, because we could use him.”

Both hits against Carrasco came early, when it looked as if he was starting to teeter in the first inning. That too often was the case last year. Nelson Cruz rocketed a home run to left-centerfield and Josh Bell ripped a single to right. Carrasco responded by retiring his next 15 batters.

“He got better as the game went on. You could see him get his sea legs under him,” Showalter said. “He had a lot of weapons today. That was good to see. Everybody loves Carlos. I think everybody was really pulling for him to get off to a good start.”

Carrasco added: “Today was great for me . . . Everything feels good. Every pitch was working today.”

That is a stark difference from 2021, when he missed most of the year because of a torn hamstring and struggled — in part because of a bone chip in his right elbow — upon returning. But after October surgery to remove the bone chip, Carrasco feels strong and healthy again, which shows specifically in the effectiveness of his split-changeup and slider.

Only one-third of Carrasco’s pitches Sunday were fastballs, down from about one-half last year. His slider (28% of his offerings against the Nationals) and split-changeup (24%) were his go-to pitches instead.

The home run was No. 450 for the 41-year-old Cruz. The Mets signed him as an international amateur in 1998, then dealt him to the Athletics for Jorge Velandia in 2000. He was handed a 50-game PED suspension in 2013 but still leads the majors with 293 homers since.

“He’s really good. I’m pretty sure I’m in the book right there, 450 homers,” Carrasco said with a laugh. “But it’s really impressive, the way he takes care of himself, the way he works out and everything.”

Time for Tai

When Taijuan Walker makes his season debut Monday against the Phillies, he will do so at something less than full strength. He left his final exhibition outing early because of knee soreness.

Showalter didn’t want to say publicly how long Walker would be able to go after throwing 1 1⁄3 innings in the previous 10 days. “I don’t put those barriers on them verbally before a game,” he said. “Pitchers don’t need to hear that. Go pitch, get people out, we’ll see how things are going and we’ll play it a little bit by ear.”

By Tim Healey

timothy.healey@newsday.com@timbhealey

Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.