Carlos Rodon

Carlos Rodón will make the biggest start of his New York Yankees tenure on Monday night.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced on Sunday that Rodón will be the Game 1 starter in the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians.

Gerrit Cole, who started the closing Game 4 of the ALDS against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday, is expected to start Game 2 on regular rest.

Rodón and Clarke Schmidt were the two most obvious candidates to start Game 1 of the ALCS.

Schmidt pitched four scoreless innings against the Royals before they finally go to him for two runs in the fifth inning of Game 3 on Oct. 9. He only pitched in five games after the All-Star break due to a strained lat.

Rodón struggled in his start against the Royals in Game 2. He allowed four runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings of the Yankees' 4-2 loss. The left-hander was very good in the second half prior to that start with a 2.91 ERA and 83 strikeouts over 68 innings in 12 starts.

There's not a platoon for Boone by using a lefty start against Cleveland's lineup. The Guardians had a better OPS vs. left-handed pitching (.751) compared to right-handed pitching (.685).

Cleveland advanced to the ALCS by beating arguably the best left-handed starting pitcher in MLB this season. Lane Thomas' grand slam off Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal in Game 5 of the ALDS on Saturday capped off a five-run fifth inning in their 7-3 win to advance.

LANE THOMAS. GRAND SLAM. @CLEGUARDIANS ON TOP.#ALDS pic.twitter.com/9bxvHY59T9

— MLB (@MLB) October 12, 2024

Rodón hasn't faced the Guardians in 2024. The Yankees won four of the six head-to-head meetings between the two clubs during the regular season.

Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt has yet to announce his Game 1 starter. The most-likely candidate is Alex Cobb, who allowed two runs in three innings against the Tigers on Oct. 9.

The Guardians and Yankees will play Game 1 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium on Monday at 7:38 p.m. ET.

Carlos Rodón gave up a pair of homers and three runs on five hits in a little over three innings during his second Grapefruit League start on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays.

After the game, manager Aaron Boone said the veteran pitcher's fastball lacked bite.

"He didn't have great life on his fastball today," he told reporters. "But I felt, really, in between the first and last pitch, I thought he pitched really well. I thought he pitched, which was good to see."

Rodón generally agreed with the assessment.

"Didn't really have the fastball velo I wanted, but... it's one of those days," he said. "It's one of those days you got to be able to pitch without a fastball and kind of use some other things."

The Yankees are hoping Rodón can figure it out after a disappointing and injury-riddled 2023 season that saw him post a 6.85 ERA in 14 starts after signing a six-year, $162 million contract.

The Yankees disappointed in general but have been busy this offseason, most notably adding Juan Soto and Marcus Stroman. If pitchers like Rodón and Nestor Cortés can put together bounce-back seasons, New York's rotation has the potential to be excellent.

After a rough beginning to his New York Yankees tenure last year, starting pitcher Carlos Rodón is looking for a big follow-up in pinstripes.

Per the New York Post's Greg Joyce, Rodón believes he has something to prove in the second season of his six-year, $162 million contract.

"I just feel like I got some stuff to prove and I want to stay on the field a lot longer than I did last year," the 31-year-old said.

Last season, Rodón pitched in 14 games, posting a 6.85 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 64.1 innings.

Rodón signed with the Yankees in December of 2022 following one season with the San Francisco Giants. Now in his first full offseason with New York, he's ready to improve and come out strong.

"When they invest a lot of money in you, they definitely invest a lot of time and contact with you," Rodón said. "So it was good. We had a good plan. Started throwing pretty early. Started moving in the weight room pretty early. A lot earlier than normal. So I've been throwing a lot, just trying to stay ready."

Some of Rodón's 2023 struggles were caused by injuries. He dealt with a forearm muscle strain in March before suffering back issues during rehab. Once he was able to get on the mound in July, he couldn't find the groove he had at his 2021-22 peak, when he finished top-six in the Cy Young voting in each.

The Yankees are coming off a disappointing 82-80 campaign that saw them miss the postseason for the first time since 2016. New York is looking to turn things around in 2024, and Rodón could help with that.

If he can get back to the way he was pitching in 2022 when he posted a 2.88 ERA and 237 strikeouts, it could lead to a successful year for the Yankees.

New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón faced eight batters in the first inning of Friday's contest against the Kansas City Royals.

All eight batters got on base.

Rodón allowed two walks, two singles, a double, a home run and a stolen base as the Royals racked up six runs in the first inning.

Carlos Rodon is the 3rd starting pitcher in MLB history to give up 8+ Earned Runs while not recording a single out. pic.twitter.com/BdhukRBNuA

— . (@HalToHell) September 30, 2023

Yankees P Carlos Rodón faced 8 batters without recording an out in his start against the Royals tonight.

That is the most by a starter without recording an out in MLB since then-Mets P Steven Matz in 2019 (Matz also faced 8 batters) pic.twitter.com/wwPEnrk7xH

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 30, 2023

Carlos Rodón's final line:

0.0 IP, 8 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 1 HR

He finishes his dreadful first season in pinstripes with one of the worst starts we've seen from a #Yankees pitcher in recent memory, perhaps ever.

— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) September 30, 2023

https://twitter.com/SethDRothman/status/1707921612807241969

Carlos Rodón's fastball is down 2 mph and slider 2.7 mph....

— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) September 30, 2023

Rodón was eventually yanked for Yankees pitcher Matt Bowman, but not in time to save him from ridicule by fans watching on social media.

Remember when that question about whether or not you think you could get a hit vs a mlb pitcher?
I changed my mind. 3 for 4 with two doubles if that pitcher is Carlos Rodon

— Kyle Cashlington (@Yank33Clipp3r) September 30, 2023

Yankees down 9-0 against Kansas City after one inning. Boy, that Carlos Rodon is, well, something.

— Stuart Rothenberg (@StuPolitics) September 30, 2023

Carlos Rodon’s final start for Yankees:

5 runs, no outs recorded, yanked in first inning

Anyone see that receipt lying around??

— Christian Toto (@HollywoodInToto) September 30, 2023

In his defense, Rodon pitched a perfect 2023 Yankees season game. I mean, it's so on point.

— Chris (@gitrdone923) September 30, 2023

Btw I hope no one had Rodón in their ESPN fantasy team because I just checked and that’s a lovely minus 24 points he’s bringing his pickers

— Danielle Blake (Dodgers Delenda Est) (@abradacabla) September 30, 2023

Rodon ending his season by not getting ONE batter out is just pathetic.

I really hope he turns it around next year, but my goodness what a sour way to finish

— Devin 😈 (@angry_gcole) September 30, 2023

Wow Carlos Rodon.. way to end the season with the worst line of your career (which after this season isn't really a shock).. #Yankees

— Chris Baldassano (@Baldassano) September 30, 2023

It was Rodón's final start of the 2023 season, and it raised his overall ERA on the campaign from 5.74 to 6.85 in a single start.

Rodón signed a six-year, $162 million deal with the Yankees in December.

Yankee fans seeing Carlos Rodon pitch in 2023 and realizing he’s owed 27M per year until 2029 pic.twitter.com/01CD9vZ2w4

— David Mendelson (@DMendy02) September 30, 2023

Carlos Rodón earned $7,611,111 for each of his three wins this season. Talk about a bargain! #RepBX

— Funhouse (@BackAftaThis) September 30, 2023

https://twitter.com/Thomas_Carrieri/status/1707923839764639894

https://twitter.com/dsantana310/status/1707920364058161181

Carlos Rodon is a cautionary tale about spending big $$$ on veteran FA pitching. Warning signs were there for him. But it feels like more often than not, big FA contracts for pitchers are failures.

— Jake T. O'Donnell (@jaketodonnell) September 30, 2023

The guy that signed Carlos Rodon to a 9 figure contract allegedly has job security somehow #RepBX

— Enrico Pallazzo (@GMoneyELITE) September 30, 2023

The Yankees ended the first inning Friday already down 9-0.

The Pinstripes will return tomorrow against the Royals before finishing out the series, and a disappointing 2023 season, Sunday.

It's official, folks: The New York Yankees are really, really, really bad.

The Bronx Bombers lost to the Washington Nationals 2-1 on Tuesday night, marking New York's ninth straight loss, the worst losing streak for the organization since 1982.

The team's longest losing streak in its history came back in 1908, when the Yankees lost 12 straight times.

this Yankees skid is the 8th 9-game losing streak in franchise history (& 1st since 1982) but keep in mind in case they lose again tomorrow:

the last time the Yankees lost 10+ games in a row was 1913, or, THE FIRST YEAR THEY WERE THE YANKEES AFTER CHANGING FROM THE HIGHLANDERS

— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) August 23, 2023

This group might just hit that mark. For now, however, MLB fans and pundits alike are content to rip the Yankees to shred for their current woes:

Crappy. One of the worst Yankees teams of my lifetime. https://t.co/7hYFhp5lzR

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) August 23, 2023

2023 Yankees have started having a lot of games that remind me of Miguel Andujar

2 hits 1 error

— Talkin’ Jake (@TalkinJake) August 23, 2023

I’m embarrassed to be a Yankee fan. That’s still my team tho

— roseanne ✨ (@hoodierizz) August 23, 2023

Yankees stat of the day:

Scoreboard proposals: 3
Hits: 2

— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) August 23, 2023

The Yankees are almost as bad as the Mets. Yikes!

— CeeJay (@newzee1234) August 23, 2023

The 2023 Yankees are a Fyre Festival https://t.co/R1Ncojc8Jz

— Eric Nagy (@NagyEric) August 23, 2023

Yankees offense in comparison to the rest of MLB. https://t.co/siYwMJSiYj

— Mac’s Card Shack (@MacsCardShack) August 23, 2023

https://twitter.com/AdamWel69055220/status/1694176954604216652

Disgusting. Pathetic. Lifeless! https://t.co/juptRASaiU

— javien Los yankees (@javien114) August 23, 2023

During this losing streak the Yankees were swept by the Atlanta Braves (understandable, given they have the best record in baseball) and the Boston Red Sox (absolutely devastating for any Yankees fan to endure).

They now haven't held a lead for 61 innings, per Laura Albanese of Newsday. That's almost seven full games.

How bad was it on Tuesday, against the NL East's cellar-dweller Nats? New York's only two hits came from Ben Rortvedt, who came into the game hitting .095 for the season. The rest of the lineup went 0-for-20.

The Yankees are the only MLB team in the modern era to have a player who entered the game with a sub-.100 batting average (Ben Rortvedt) go 2-for-2 (or better) and the rest of the team go hitless.

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) August 23, 2023

Yeesh.

"I'm not giving up," Carlos Rodón told reporters after the game. "I don't feel like any of my guys are giving up."

And manager Aaron Boone said the Yanks were "pretty down" following the loss.

Aaron Boone speaks with the media following the Yankees' loss to the Nationals in the first game of the series.#YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/A1bAR3NS2u

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) August 23, 2023

"We gotta fight through it," he added. "I think we're doing and saying the right things. But we're in it to win it. ... It's no fun walking in that locker room getting beat every night."

So for nine straight games and 65 contests in total out of 125 played, it's been no fun in New York's clubhouse.

Another key New York Yankees starting pitcher has been placed on the injured list.

The team announced Monday that left-handed starter Carlos Rodón was being placed on the 15-day IL with a hamstring strain. This comes after he exited his Sunday's game in the third inning following two consecutive awkward deliveries.

Prior to tonight’s game, the Yankees made the following roster moves:
•Returned from rehab and reinstated RHP Jonathan Loáisiga (#43) from the 60-day injured list.
•Placed LHP Carlos Rodón on the 15-day injured list with a left hamstring strain.
•Recalled LHP Nick Ramirez…

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 7, 2023

He has only made six starts in 2023 after he spent the first three months of the season on the IL with a left forearm strain.

When Rodón has been healthy in 2023, it hasn't been pretty. He is currently 1-4 on the season with a 7.33 ERA. He has a negative WAR thus far and is averaging less than five innings per start.

While the injuries and ineffectiveness is concerning given the six-year, $162 million contract he signed with the Yankees ahead of the 2023 season, his past performance shows how much of a star he can be. He had a sub-3.00 ERA in both 2021 and 2022 and recorded more than 400 strikeouts across those two seasons.

His 25 strikeouts in 27 innings in 2023 show that he still has that going for him and he will surely snag a spot in the rotation again once he recovers from the hamstring injury. Still, his loss comes at a difficult time for the Yankees, as the team just had to shut down Domingo Germán, who threw a perfect game just weeks ago, due to alcohol abuse.

The Yankees, despite having the second-highest payroll in MLB, sit in fourth place in the AL East. They are 58-54 on the season and are just 4.5 games outside of the third Wild Card spot, but this is still a disappointing spot to be in for a team that won 99 games a season ago.

The pitching staff, anchored by ace Gerrit Cole, has not really been the issue as they have the 10th-best ERA in the league, but having a player like Rodón down the stretch will be crucial for the team to make a charge toward the postseason.

The New York Yankees' difficult season continued on Sunday.

Starting pitcher Carlos Rodón was forced to exit a 9-7 loss against the Houston Astros in the third inning with what the team was calling left hamstring tightness.

Carlos Rodón left today's game with left hamstring tightness. He's being examined at Yankee Stadium by Dr. David Trofa. Additional examinations will take place over the next 24 hours.

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 6, 2023

Rodón, who gave up five runs in his short stint Sunday, was replaced by Jhony Brito.

The 30-year-old signed a six-year, $162 million contract with the Yankees this winter, but the results have been disastrous. He missed the first three months of the season with forearm and back issues, and since his return is just 1-4 across six starts with a monstrous 7.33 ERA, 1.52 WHIP and 25 strikeouts in 27 innings.

It's been that sort of season for the Yankees. At 58-54, they find themselves 12 games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East and 4.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the American League's final Wild Card berth.

So the Yankees abstained from being major buyers at the MLB trade deadline this past week, much to the chagrin of their fans.

And now the pitching staff is looking thin.

Alongside Rodón's injury, Domingo Germán was ruled out for the remainder of the year after voluntarily going to inpatient treatment for alcohol abuse.

Lindsey Adler of the Wall Street Journal reported that Germán "grew belligerent" in the clubhouse on Tuesday and smashed a television, flipped over a couch and had to be held in a sauna as the team waited for him to sweat the alcohol out of his system.

And Andy Martino of SNY reported that Germán "was under the influence of alcohol and did not appear in control of his emotions."

The return of Nestor Cortes should help bolster the rotation, and getting Luis Severino and Rodón back on track—once he's healthy—would do wonders for the team's diminishing postseason hopes.

For now, Brito likely will find himself back in the starting rotation.

New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodón explained why he blew a kiss to the crowd during Wednesday's 7-3 road loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

While entering the dugout after surrendering two runs during the second inning, Rodón quickly gestured to the crowd by blowing a kiss, seemingly in response to getting heckled:

Rodon reacts to some Yankees fans in attendance pic.twitter.com/oE86bvyTq1

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 19, 2023

Rodón was asked about it after the game, and he divulged that blowing a kiss was the best thing he could think to do at the time other than simply ignoring it (beginning at 50-second mark):

Carlos Rodón meets with the media & reacts to his outing against the Angels and blowing a kiss to the crowd during the game. pic.twitter.com/hDL3mI9mO7

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 20, 2023

"I guess it was the best reaction I could give, but better not to give a reaction I guess," Rodón said. "But just one of those things, I was frustrated, and better to blow a kiss or not do anything at all, So, frustrating outing, that's for sure. I showed it there in the second early."

Rodón went on to suggest that the fan who heckled him was a Yankees fan, saying they were "angry, as they should be."

Frustration has been mounting for the Yankees and their fans, as the Angels completed a three-game sweep against them Wednesday. New York has now lost four games in a row and five out of six since the All-Star break.

That leaves the Yanks all alone in last place in the American League East at 50-47, and 3.5 games out of the final wild-card spot.

Along with re-signing superstar slugger Aaron Judge, Rodón was the crown jewel of the Yankees' free-agent class, as he signed a six-year, $162 million contract.

Rodón was an All-Star with the Chicago White Sox in 2021 and the San Francisco Giants in 2022, posting a sub-3.00 ERA in each season.

A muscle strain in his left forearm followed by a back injury forced Rodón to miss the first three months of the season before finally making his debut on July 7.

Rodón has struggled mightily thus far, going 0-3 with a 7.36 ERA in three starts. That included surrendering six earned runs on four hits and five walks over 4.1 innings in Wednesday's loss to the Angels.

New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodón is scheduled to make his 2023 debut in Friday's upcoming game against the Chicago Cubs.

Manager Aaron Boone confirmed the southpaw's last rehab start went according to plan as he completes his recovery from forearm and back trouble that prevented him from suiting up for the Bronx Bombers.

Rodón made his third minor league appearance of the season Saturday for the Hudson Valley Renegades in High-A. He threw 3.2 scoreless innings and struck out eight as his team went on to beat the Wilmington Blue Rocks 8-2.

Carlos Rodon Strikes Out the Side in the 2nd! pic.twitter.com/f9k59bCPJM

— Hudson Valley Renegades (@HVRenegades) July 1, 2023

The Yankees signed the two-time All-Star to a six-year, $162 million contract in the offseason, giving them a potent 1-2 combination at the top of the rotation between him and Gerrit Cole.

But a left forearm strain necessitated a trip to the injured list in early March. Then a persistent back issue delayed his maiden appearance in pinstripes even further.

"It's hard to put a date on anything," he told reporters on May 23. "I want to be back as soon as I can, anyway I can help. I want to be pitching."

Rodón's expected debut couldn't come at a much better time.

Frankie Montas underwent offseason shoulder surgery that cast doubt on his availability for the entire year. Nestor Cortes is on the IL due to a left rotator cuff strain. And Luis Severino is now 1-3 with a 6.30 ERA and a 6.33 FIP after he surrendered seven earned runs in Saturday's 11-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Yankees are in need of the help Rodón can provide when he finally steps onto the mound.