Carlos Rodón made his New York Yankees debut on Friday after three long months, but the wait will continue for his first win.
The Yankees’ premier free agent acquisition last offseason threw 5 1/3 innings with four hits, two runs (both earned), two walks and two strikeouts on 69 pitches, taking the loss against the Chicago Cubs. He received a warm ovation as he was pulled in the sixth inning:
Rodón left plenty of reason to hope he improves as he takes more turns in the rotation, and it’s also not like he’s responsible for the Yankees getting shut out in a 3-0 loss. His slider has been his signature pitch for years, throwing it 31.1% of the time last season, but he only used it 12 times (17.4%) against the Cubs, per Baseball Savant.
The costliest pitch was an insider fastball in the third inning, which Cody Bellinger launched into the second deck:
The Yankees signed Rodón to a six-year, $162 million contract in free agency last winter after a standout season in which the southpaw posted a 2.88 ERA, NL-best 2.25 FIP, 1.082 WHIP and 237 strikeouts in 178 innings for the Giants, earning him a second-straight All-Star nods and a ninth-place finish in the Cy Young voting.
The knock on Rodón, however, was an extensive history of injuries, and it didn’t take long for the Yankees to run into that with the 30-year-old. He was first sidelined in spring training this season with a forearm strain before the back issue emerged in August. It was reported in May his timeline would be pushed back indefinitely due to a “chronic” back issue.
He finally began a rehab assignment on June 20 and made three starts before getting the nod.
Rodón isn’t the only injury for the Yankees, who are still without the likes of Aaron Judge, Nestor Cortes, Jonathan Loáisiga and more, but his situation was emblematic of the team’s early-season woes. The team’s record now sits at 48-41, eight games back from the Rays in the AL East and one game back from the final wild-card spot.