Yankees' Carlos Rodón Expected to Start Rehab Assignment amid Back Injury
Jun 16, 2023
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 11: Carlos Rodon #55 of the New York Yankees throws from the mound prior to a game against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on June 11, 2023 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
The New York Yankees received a positive update on pitcher Carlos Rodón on Friday.
Rodón, who has yet to make his Yankees debut because of back and forearm injuries, is expected to start a rehab assignment on Tuesday, according to Meredith Marakovits of YES Network. He'll likely need at least three rehab starts before he'll be considered for a return to the majors, Marakovits added.
Rodón spent the first seven years of his career with the Chicago White Sox and spent the 2022 campaign with the San Francisco Giants. He had back-to-back All-Star seasons in 2021 and 2022, setting him up to sign a significant contract.
The Yankees signed Rodón to a six-year, $162 million deal in December expecting him to be one of their top starters alongside ace Gerrit Cole.
The 30-year-old posted a 14-8 record with a 2.88 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 237 strikeouts in 178 innings across 31 starts with the Giants last season. However, he has yet to pitch this season due to injuries.
Rodón began the season on the injured list with a forearm strain suffered in spring training and has remained on the IL with what has been described as a chronic back issue. His injury has been a tough blow for the Yankees as they are also dealing with injuries to Nestor Cortes, Frankie Montas, Jonathan Loaisiga and Lou Trivino.
With Rodón sidelined Cole has held down the Yankees' rotation alongside Luis Severino, Domingo German and Clarke Schmidt.
New York entered Friday's contest against the Boston Red Sox third in the American League East with a 39-30 record, 9.5 games back of the first-place Tampa Bay Rays.
Once Rodón returns the rotation, the Bronx Bombers will be able to better contend for the top spot in the division.
Yankees' Willie Calhoun Suffers Apparent Injury Being Hit by Carlos Rodón Pitch in BP
Jun 11, 2023
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 08: Willie Calhoun #24 of the New York Yankees rounds the bases during game two of a double header against the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium on June 8, 2023 in Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Prior to Sunday night's series finale against the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees may have suffered another injury setback.
According to The Athletic's Brendan Kuty, Yankees designated hitter Willie Calhoun was hit on the elbow by a pitch from Carlos Rodón during his live batting practice session and left the field in visible pain. Calhoun is scheduled to be in the leadoff spot in New York's lineup against Boston.
Willie Calhoun says he’s 100% and will play tonight.
He said he got hit in the nerve near his bicep. Arm went numb for a few minutes, but it quickly calmed down. https://t.co/8mMn2gdBZo
New York has been dealing with injuries to key players throughout the 2023 season. Star slugger and reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge is on the 10-day injured list with a toe injury. Outfielder Harrison Bader has been limited to 26 games with a hamstring injury. Designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton recently returned to the lineup after missing over a month of action.
The Yankees signed Calhoun to a minor-league contract in December and he was added to the active roster in April. The 28-year-old has appeared in 39 games and is batting .246/.316/.426 with five home runs and 16 RBI.
A seven-year veteran, Calhoun began his major-league career with the Texas Rangers in 2017. He has struggled to stay on the field throughout his time in the majors, as the most games he's played in a season was 83 in 2019.
During a spring training game in 2020, Calhoun was hit in the face by a fastball that caused a fractured and displaced jaw and required surgery. He suffered a fractured forearm early in the 2021 season that limited him to 75 games.
The Yankees are certainly breathing a sigh of relief after avoiding yet another injury. Calhoun will try to help them emerge victorious in Sunday night's rubber match against their longtime rivals.
Looking back at some offseason moves that MLB teams might wish they could have back.
Yankees' Carlos Rodón to Get Injection for 'Chronic' Back Injury; No Return Timeline
May 5, 2023
New York Yankees' Carlos Rodon speaks during his introductory baseball news conference at Yankee Stadium, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Yankees starting left-handed pitcher Carlos Rodón will soon receive a cortisone injection for a "chronic" back issue, and there is no current timetable for his return.
Bryan Hoch of MLB.com relayed the news from Rodón and Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
Carlos Rodon will have a cortisone injection as soon as possible, Aaron Boone said. Medical consensus is that it will help him get back on the mound.
Carlos Rodon said he has been told his back issue is "chronic." He is tentatively scheduled to have the cortisone injection next week. Asked if a July return is realistic, he said: "I can't put a timeline on anything. I'll get this injection and I want to throw as soon as I can."
The Yankees signed Rodón to a six-year, $162 million contract this offseason after the southpaw posted his second-straight All-Star campaign, going 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA and 237 strikeouts for the San Francisco Giants.
Rodón has yet to take the mound for the Yanks this season. The team initially diagnosed him with a mild left forearm strain in March, and he was set to start the 2023 campaign late.
However, manager Aaron Boone said on the Talkin' Yanks podcast on April 11 that Rodón's return was delayed due to lower back tightness.
Some encouraging news dropped on April 28 when Meredith Marakovits of YES Network reported that Rodón threw 22 pitches in a bullpen session.
However, Rodón went for further testing on Thursday, and now there's clearly concern about his health moving forward given the "chronic" label on his back issue.
Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News and Greg Joyce of the New York Post provided more comments from Rodón:
Carlos Rodón described his back issue as "restriction" & "tightness," but not pain. Said he's never dealt with this before, but docs called it "a chronic thing." 3 opinions agreed injection was best.
Rodon: "It's hard. I wanted to throw today, I wanted to throw yesterday. But that's why we have the training staff we do have so I don't do something stupid and make something worse." https://t.co/W0q4DjlVvu
Adding Rodón seemed like a no-brainer move for the Yankees last offseason. They needed another high-quality arm in the starting rotation to finally break through the American League playoffs and make the World Series for the first time since 2009. Rodón seemed like the answer after a tremendous two-year stretch.
The Yankees will be hoping some good news about Rodón emerges in the coming weeks and he'll be able to return. The Bronx Bombers still await the 2023 debut of Luis Severino (low-grade right lat strain) as well.
In the meantime, the 17-15 Yankees are trying to cobble together a staring rotation behind ace Gerrit Cole, who is essentially carrying the team at this point (7-0 in his starts, 10-15 otherwise).
Yankees' 2023 Season Is Already Teetering on the Brink of Disaster
Zachary D. Rymer
May 5, 2023
The Yankees are over .500, but that's where about the silver linings end.
The New York Yankees are about to face the toughest test of their season with a roster in tatters, a whole bunch of limp bats and their playoff hopes stuck in dwindle mode.
You know, just in case anyone was wondering how it's going.
Oh, sure. There are positives to accentuate as the Yankees head into their first showdown against the history-making Tampa Bay Rays. They're at least over .500 at 17-15. And if a team must be in last place as they are right now, it might as well be in an American League East division in which everyone's a winner.
But such things are clearly no comfort to the Yankee Faithful. Manager Aaron Boone was even the recipient of "Fire Boone!" chants at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, so the fans either didn't hear or didn't care when general manager Brian Cashman had pleaded for patience earlier in the day:
"Don't give up on us. That's all I can tell you. Don't count us out"
To essentially rephrase what Boone was hearing on Wednesday, here's our counterpoint: no.
The Injuries? They Hurt.
While over .500, the Yankees are further out of first place (9.0 GB) now than they were the last time they were in the AL East cellar this late in the season (6.0 GB in 2016). And whether we're talking about World Series championship No. 28 or a second straight AL East title, their odds of achieving their goals are down significantly.
The schedule won't provide handholds out of this hole. Difficulty ratings for the Yankees' remaining slate range from tough to very tough, and the tough customers aren't far down the road. Of the Yankees' next 29 games, seven are against the Rays and 13 more are against the Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers.
It's also not exactly a secret that the Yankees don't have the appropriate tires for the rough road ahead right now.
Indeed, really the only things the Yankees lead the league in are cumulative injured list days and $20.2 million spent on players while they've been on the IL. That's more than 11 teams spent on IL-bound players in all of 2022.
Though reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge and fellow MVPs Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson loom large on the Yankees' IL, just as consequential are all the pitchers they're missing out on right now.
Specifically sans Carlos Rodón, Luis Severino and Frankie Montas—whose returns aren't nigh. The three injured starters posted a combined 3.35 ERA last season. In their place are Clarke Schmidt, Jhony Brito and Domingo Germán, who have a 5.21 ERA between them.
Though Nestor Cortes' early struggles are also a factor, that figure helps explain why the Yankees are 7-0 on days when Gerrit Cole starts and 10-15 on everyone else's days.
The Bad Offense? That Also Hurts.
Now more than ever, what the Yankees need is offense. And not just any offense. Offense worthy of the "Bronx Bombers" moniker.
Really, anything but the offense they have.
In going from 4.98 runs per game in 2022 to 3.94 this year, the Yankees are suffering through the most dramatic drop in scoring of any team in the league. They've scored fewer than five runes 22 times already, second to only the Miami Marlins.
The only real hope for the near-term can be found in the prospect of Judge returning from his hip strain as early as May 8. Undercutting this hope, however, is that he didn't look much like the Judge of 2022 even when he was healthy.
Whereas last year's Judge hit 62 home runs and led the majors in, well, everything, this year's Judge went on the IL with a good-not-great .863 OPS. Some sort of return to earth was probably always inevitable, but this is also the result of an updated scouting book.
Among right-handed batters, only Matt Vierling has seen pitches on the outer half of the plate more often than Judge has this season. With him hitting just .218 against those pitches, it's clearly working.
That All This Feels Inevitable? That Hurts the Most.
It perhaps should inspire confidence that this is mostly the same team that won 99 games in 2022, but it takes a fool to take that bait.
Whereas that team got off to a 61-23 start, the Yankees are 55-55 in 110 games since then. And that's not even counting a playoff run in which they barely survived the Cleveland Guardians before getting unceremoniously swept by the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series.
The way forward after that series was daunting, yet clear. The Yankees needed a big offseason centered around re-signing Judge, but also consisting of bringing on new blood.
We can't fault the effort in retrospect. Boosted by a $360 million contract for Judge and a $162 million pact with Rodón, the Yankees claimed the top of the free-agent spending leaderboard with $574.5 million in total expenses. Enough to make even Patrick Mahomes blush.
But the execution? Yeah, there's fault to find there.
Yankee hitters not named Judge batted a combined .232/.291/.360 (h/t Mike Axisa of CBSSports.com) in the second half of 2022, so re-signing him and Anthony Rizzo and leaving it at that was an unforced error. Ditto for merely adding the oft-injured Tommy Kahnle to a bullpen that really struggled under the weight of Clay Holmes' decline after the All-Star break—which, by the way, is ongoing.
Rodón's deal, meanwhile, was simultaneously impossible to hate yet hard to embrace. In equal measure with his supreme talent came a tendency for serious injuries, which the Yankees didn't need in a rotation where Severino and Montas already presented injury risks.
There is, of course, no going back for a mulligan. The only way the Yankees are going to get the overhaul they need is through a massive haul on the summer trade market, preferably through a deal for Shohei Ohtani. But of that, chances are said to be less than great.
As to what this current version of the Yankees is capable of, FanGraphs puts the team's expected wins at 87. That would mark the club's first foray below 90 wins in a full season since 2016, and the recent downward trend of that line and the upcoming schedule may well shift the target to 85 wins or even below.
Either way, sounds about right. Because while this is ostensibly another "World Series or bust" season in the Bronx, what's become of the Yankees makes it hard to see them as anything more than a mere wild-card contender. If anything, that's the generous outlook.
There's always a voice that starts whispering whenever we go public with doubts about the Yankees. "Don't do it," it says. "They're the Yankees. They'll be fine."
But that's just the thing, voice. They're not supposed to be just fine. The goal is always greatness. And right now, it looks out of reach.
Yankees News: Carlos Rodón 'Can't Get over Final Hump' in Back Injury Recovery
May 2, 2023
TAMPA, FL - FEBRUARY 20: Carlos Rodón #55 of the New York Yankees throws during Spring Training at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 20, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images)
New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón is struggling to recover from a back injury.
Manager Aaron Boone told reporters Tuesday that the left-hander "can't get over that final hump."
Rodón isn't feeling any pain but has stiffness in his back and "just doesn't feel right," according to MLB.com's BryanHoch. He hasn't been able to "move the way he needs to mechanically," Hoch tweeted. The team is "getting as many eyes on it as we can, Boone added.
The Yankees signed Rodón to a six-year, $162 million deal in December. He was one of the top free-agent pitchers available after opting out of his contract with the San Francisco Giants following the 2022 campaign.
Rodón has yet to make his team debut after being placed on the injured list with a strained left forearm he suffered during spring training. That ailment appears to be a non-issue at this point, but the back problem that began in April has lingered.
The 30-year-old's delayed recovery is a tough blow for the Yankees, who have numerous other players on the IL, including star sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton and pitchers Luis Severino, Frankie Montas, Jonathan Loáisiga and Lou Trivino, among others.
The rotation has been held down by Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Domingo Germán and Jhony Brito.
The Bronx Bombers have slipped to fifth in the American League East with a 15-15 record, 8.5 games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays.
Rodón spent the first seven years of his career with the Chicago White Sox and the 2022 campaign with the Giants. He is coming off back-to-back All-Star seasons and had an impressive 2022 campaign, posting a 14-8 record with a 2.88 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP and 237 strikeouts in 178 innings.
Once the Yankees get some players back, including Rodón, they should climb up the standings. For now, they'll try to stay afloat in the division.
Yankees' Carlos Rodón Dealing with Back Tightness; Return from Forearm Injury Delayed
Apr 11, 2023
TAMPA, FL - FEBRUARY 20: Carlos Rodón #55 of the New York Yankees throws during Spring Training at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 20, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images)
New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodón had back tightness that will cause his return from a left forearm injury to be delayed, manager Aaron Boone told Talkin' Yanks on Tuesday.
Rodón, who signed a six-year, $162 million deal with the Yankees in December, has yet to make his team debut because of the arm injury, which he suffered in spring training. He has made 30 starts just one time in his MLB career.
"Rodón, he had some back tightness, so it's kind of delayed his next live, which was supposed to be yesterday, today," Boone said. "So, it's probably going to be a few days. Elbow-wise, he's doing great. So, we'll see how the next couple of days are there. But we're getting there."
Rodón was sensational in 2021 and 2022, posting a 27-13 record with a 2.67 ERA and 1.00 WHIP while striking out 422 batters in 310.2 innings with the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants. He was the Yankees' biggest offseason acquisition as they fortified their rotation in the hopes of making their first World Series appearance since 2009.
The Bronx Bombers are 6-4 without Rodón but are already facing a four-game deficit in the American League East because of the Tampa Bay Rays' historic 10-0 start. The sooner they can get Rodón back next to Gerrit Cole at the top of the rotation, the better.
Yankees News: Carlos Rodón to Start Season on IL with Forearm Injury
Mar 9, 2023
TAMPA, FL - FEBRUARY 20: Carlos Rodón #55 of the New York Yankees during Spring Training at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 20, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images)
The New York Yankees will open the 2023 regular season without Carlos Rodón in their starting rotation.
General manager Brian Cashman told reporters Thursday that Rodón will start the year on the injured list with a strained left forearm.
Rodón, who spoke to reporters about his injury, doesn't seem too concerned about this being a serious issue: "I'm not here to pitch until the All-Star break. I'm here to pitch well into October. If this was down the stretch, yeah, I would be going for sure. If it's October 5 or the ALDS, I'm taking the ball."
The Yankees will start the regular season short-handed in the starting rotation. Frankie Montas is hoping to return in the second half after he underwent shoulder surgery in February.
New York's bullpen will also be without two key contributors to start the season, with Tommy Kahnle and Lou Trivino going on the injured list, Cashman announced.
Starting pitcher Nestor Cortes, who made the All-Star team last season, showed up to spring training with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. There was optimism he would be ready to throw early in camp, but the southpaw has yet to appear in a spring game.
Manager Aaron Boone told reporters earlier this week Cortes will likely be used as the No. 5 starter to open the season to give him more time to get back to full strength.
After the re-signing of Aaron Judge, Rodón's acquisition was the most important offseason move the Yankees made. The two-time All-Star signed a six-year, $162 million deal in December.
Cashman has been trying to find a reliable No. 2 starter behind Gerrit Cole for years. Montas was supposed to fill that role after being acquired from the Oakland Athletics in August, but he only appeared in eight games for the Yankees because of a shoulder injury.
Rodón has been injured often throughout his career, though he was able to make 55 starts over the past two seasons combined. The 30-year-old finished fifth in AL Cy Young voting with the Chicago White Sox in 2021.
The San Francisco Giants signed Rodón as a free agent last offseason. He rewarded them with a 2.88 ERA and 237 strikeouts in 178 innings over 31 starts.
Prior to the 2021 season, Rodón only made 43 appearances from 2017 to '20. He had Tommy John surgery in May 2019.
Cole will likely get the Opening Day start for the Yankees on March 30 against the Giants. Luis Severino seems like the favorite to be their No. 2 starter. The right-hander had a 3.18 ERA in 19 starts last season.
Get ready for an MLB season with some familiar faces in new places. There was a ton of movement among star players this offseason, whether it be free agent...
