Chicago White Sox: Carlos Rodon needs to stay in starting rotation
The nightcap of a doubleheader saw the No. 1 prospect of the Chicago White Sox, Carlos Rodon, gain a win in his first MLB start, Saturday against the Cincinnati Reds.
The White Sox lost Game 1 of the twin bill 10-4 but came back in the second game to win 8-2 as this was the first career start (fourth appearance) by Rodon since being called up to the majors in late April.
Rodon (1-0) pitched six innings against the Reds at U.S. Cellular Field, allowing two earned runs on four hits and four walks. Rodon (108 pitches, 67 strikes) struck out eight in the first career victory.
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What was good from Rodon was he was able to recover from early miscues. He walked the first two batters he faced in Billy Hamilton and Marlon Byrd, but he got out of the inning unscathed by striking out Joey Votto and forcing Todd Frazier into a double play.
In the second inning, the pitching of Rodon really began to take over with three straight outs, including a strikeout to end the inning. The third wasn’t so kind to Rodon, allowing the two earned runs off a single by Votto with two outs, leading to a total of seven batters to the plate.
Rodon recovered in the fourth with two strikeouts of Devin Mesoraco and Brennan Boesch, followed by a groundout. It was three-up and three-down in the fifth for Rodon as well, and in the sixth he faced four batters, including his eighth strikeout of the game.
For a first career start, it was a very good outing for Rodon, and to be honest, it was one of the better pitching efforts for a starting pitcher on this staff in quite some time.
Rodon’s outing moved the White Sox to 11-16 overall.
With this being his fourth MLB outing, I believe Rodon has shown the White Sox he should be in the rotation, especially with the way he recovered from a seven at-bat inning and took control of the game.
There is no reason for Rodon to not have another start (even if Hector Noesi is healthy) in this struggling rotation, and if he doesn’t make a start in the next five or six days, then the White Sox will be making a mistake.
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