From Casey Drotter:
Carlos Rodón spent the bulk of the 2025 season pitching with a bone spur in his left elbow, which severely hindered his ability to do much of anything with his arm. Besides posting a 3.09 ERA across a career-high 195 1/3 innings, that is.
But after undergoing offseason surgery to remove the spur and completing a lengthy rehab process, Rodón was extremely eager to get back on the big league mound to see what it felt like to pitch without such a painful hindrance.
He finally got a chance to do so in Sunday’s season debut against the Brewers at American Family Field. For the first three innings of the Yankees’ 4-3 walk-off loss, it sure looked like a healthy Rodón could be quite a problem for opposing hitters in the months ahead.
Unfortunately, an eventual loss of control put a notable blemish on what had been an impressive start to that point. Rodón was tagged for three runs over 4 1/3 innings, throwing 78 pitches (42 strikes) while walking five and hitting a batter.
Rodón overcame a pair of leadoff walks in his first three big league innings of the season, striking out four without yielding a single hit. But that ability to overcome free passes hit a hurdle in the fourth, as he walked the first two batters he faced before pegging Andrew Vaughn with a pitch on his left shoulder.
As I said before the game even began, I was willing to give Rodon a mulligan on the first game due the rust factor, and, frankly, he really WAS encouraging overall, but he needs to avoid these walks.
So while Rodon was annoying, and Bednar sure picked the worst time of the year for his first home run allowed, the story once again was the Yankees offense being shut down by the strong Brewers pitching.
Ben Rice very possibly is playing hurt still, as he has looked like absolute trash since he’s returned from his time off.
Featured image is Rodon being unable to get out of a two-out jam with a line drive JUST over his head.
About the Author
