Carlos Rodon’s Rocky Start with the Yankees
It’s not really a surprise that the pitcher, who had elbow surgery in the offseason and is now making his second start this year, is struggling with his command.
However, Carlos Rodon hasn’t quite lived up to expectations as the Yankees’ future All-Star.
In his season opener against the Brewers last Sunday, he walked five batters in just 4 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, he didn’t improve much in Saturday’s 6-3 loss to the Mets at Citi Field.
His pitching line—three walks and three runs over just three innings—wasn’t ideal, but a fielding error marked his worst moment of the night.
After striking out Brett Batty and Luis Torrens, Rodon faced Carson Benge, who hit a double that sailed over right field.
Then he walked Bo Bichette, who has been struggling, followed by Juan Soto, a formidable hitter.
Things took a turn for the worse when Rodon threw an errant pitch to Mark Vientos. The ball hit the brick wall behind home plate, ricocheted back to him, and he made the situation worse by trying to throw it home instead of regrouping.
This error allowed Bichette to score from second base, and Soto advanced to third. Just like that, the Yankees went from a 1-0 lead to trailing 2-1.
Rodon managed to get Vientos out to end the inning, but then he issued a two-out walk to Austin Slater in the fourth, which escalated the inning until Batty hit a 111 mph double over Aaron Judge into the right-field seats, bringing Slater home and extending the score to 3-1.
Considering Rodon’s recent rehabilitation and surgery to remove a loose body and shave a bone spur in his elbow, his shaky start isn’t a catastrophe, but certainly not ideal.
Meanwhile, the Yankees are eagerly awaiting the return of Gerrit Cole, who’s still recovering from Tommy John surgery that he had during spring training last year. Until Cole is back to his 2025 form, there’s a bit of uncertainty.
Fortunately, the Yankees’ strong start and the relative struggle of other American League teams give them some breathing room without Rodon and Cole in top form.
Cam Schlitler is making waves as a Cy Young contender in his inaugural full season in the majors, and both Ryan Weathers and Will Warren have contributed positively as well.
However, with Max Fried sidelined due to a bruised left elbow, the Yankees will likely need Rodon to step up.
Their rotation has performed well, currently holding the third-best ERA (3.09) in the majors, sitting behind only Atlanta and Tampa Bay.
While it’s easy to point out that Rodon retired eight of the first nine batters he faced and struck out six, it wasn’t enough to secure a win against a struggling Mets team that recently lost Clay Holmes to a broken leg.
