It appears the Indians might have avoided the worst news for now, but starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco’s status for the beginning of the regular season is still in some jeopardy.

Carrasco underwent an MRI after experiencing elbow soreness following his Cactus League start on March 3. The imaging ruled out any structural damage and confirmed he’s dealing with elbow inflammation.

Carrasco was given an anti-inflammatory injection and will be shut down from throwing for a few more days until his symptoms are gone. He also dealt with a right hip flexor strain this spring.

Although the Indians were relieved Carrasco might have avoided a longer absence, this second minor issue has again set him behind his program this spring.

"With Carlos, we did get good news on the MRI," president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti told reporters in Goodyear, Arizona, on Wednesday. "But there is some inflammation in there so we just need to try to slow that down a little bit and give him some time to be symptom free and then ramp up his throwing from there.

"Given the amount of time before Opening Day, it could be a stretch for him to be ready on time."

The starting rotation has already been beaten up this spring with injuries. Mike Clevinger needed knee surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus and could miss the first few weeks of the regular season. Aaron Civale was then pushed back a bit with a sore groin muscle. Antonetti added that Civale, though, is "in a good spot."

Virus measures

Major League Baseball has restricted clubhouse access to reporters as the league continues to take measures to try to limit the spread of COVID-19. According to an ESPN report, teams have been told to begin making contingency plans for future games if certain venues are deemed unfit. As of now, March 26 is still set to be Opening Day.

"That’s a very fluid situation," Antonetti said. "We’ve been in close contact with the governor [Mike DeWine] and his staff as well as leaders of Major League Baseball and others within the community to try to understand what’s currently going on and how we may need to plan accordingly. It’s very fluid and dynamic and obviously it’s something we’re monitoring very closely.

"It’s really difficult to predict given how quickly things are changing, not only in our community but throughout the nation and throughout the world. So what we want to make sure we’re doing is getting the best resources and the best experts to make sure we’re making the best decision and planning the best course of action."

Camp cuts

The Indians also reassigned 13 players from major-league camp on Wednesday, including third-base prospect Nolan Jones, who returned from thumb surgery this spring. Jones, the No. 1 prospect in the Indians system according to MLB Pipeline, has also been ranked by Baseball America as the No. 3 third-base prospect in the game and the No. 50 prospect overall.

Ka’ai Tom, Connor Marabell, Mitch Longo, Tyler Krieger, Wilson Garcia, Ernie Clement, Gavin Collins, Kyle Dowdy, Argenis Angulo, Dalbert Siri, Jared Robinson and Jordan Stephens were also reassigned.

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Indians at www.beaconjournal.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.