TAMPA — The coach who came to the mound previously sparked one of the worst moments of Carlos Rodon’s Yankee career.
This scene on Monday was a very pleasant moment, and it was hard to believe it was a spring training game.
As Joe Torre, who had been a special guest at camp for a few days, began walking to the mound to receive the ball, Rodon pitched his 72nd and final pitch of the 5/3 no-hitter against the Phillies. I had just thrown it.
The competitive Rodon, still in the zone, knew he had three pitches left in his possession and was about to face a left-handed hitter.
“I thought, ‘What, he’s left-handed?'” I looked up and thought, “Oh, it’s Joe Torre.” You should give him the ball,’ Rodon said with a laugh. “I thought, ‘Okay, I can’t say much here.’ Spring training game, Joe Torre, yeah. So I had to let the ball go. It was funny. It was cool.
“I wanted to say, ‘Get out of here,'” Rodon added. “But it was Joe Torre.”
The Steinbrenner Field crowd erupted in applause as the former Yankees manager made a cameo appearance and Rodon put together a pep talk.
Torre spoke with Rodon for a few seconds as the infielders surrounded him, with Anthony Volpe listening and smiling.
“He just said it was a lot easier than getting the ball over there.” [Andy] Pettit,” catcher Austin Wells said. “I thought it was pretty funny. … It was really special.”
The Yankees are hoping Rodon, who had five strikeouts and one walk in his penultimate start of the spring, will have more good moments.
The $162 million left-hander is off to a shaky start this spring after a rough first season in pinstripes, including turning his back on pitching coach Matt Blake in the season finale last year. After that, his fastball speed increased again as he showed solid results for two years in a row.
The average speed on Monday was 94.6 mph, with a maximum speed of 96.4 mph.
The Phillies were playing split-team games, so they didn’t have anywhere near a full lineup. Their only regulars were Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh, and light hitter Johan Rojas.
Still, finding success against any lineup should be beneficial for Rodon as he tries to rediscover his arrogance.
“It’s going well,” Rodon said. “Just keep building your confidence. Today was another good step.”
Coach Aaron Boone liked Rodon’s play, but didn’t place much emphasis on results.
“Look, he’s in a good place,” Boone said. “I’m going to keep saying this – build up really good days, the good, the bad and the indifferent. That’s what he’s been doing for months. He needs to focus and prepare. I want you to prepare yourself and head to the post.Now, the question is, “What should I do the next day to prepare for the next start?” If he continues to do so in his current situation, he will eventually succeed. ”
For now, Monday was just a building block with a special twist at the end.
Boone had been working for several days to get Torre to change pitching, first by putting Torre in a uniform for the first time since 2007 and then by convincing him to walk to the mound from adjacent seats at the game. Yankees dugout.
“Today he was like, ‘Okay, let’s go,'” Boone said. “he, [catcher’s] When I took the wristband off, I said, “No, don’t take the wristband off.” He said, “Well, maybe you need a map to get there.” But it was great. I was really happy to have him here these past few days. Our staff loved it. I think Joe really liked it. Certainly for me, having him is just listening. It was very good. ”
