MiLB Report: Carlos Rodon adding to his pitching repertoire

Besides the Chicago White Sox having two wins in their past two games, other good news this weekend for the organization was the pitching of Triple-A starting pitcher and No. 1 prospect Carlos Rodon on Saturday.

Against Norfolk, the lefty earned the win, pitching five innings of one-run baseball. He allowed just two hits and walked two.

Rodon also struck out nine, but what might be the best news for the 22-year-old is the fact he’s improving his pitching repertoire, which is the most important thing for him so he can be called up to the majors sooner rather than later.

Phil Rogers of CBS Chicago tweeted this over the weekend about Rodon:

Carlos Rodon was impressive in his first start. FB hit 97, struck out 9 and threw almost as many changeups (14) as sliders (17). Nice mix.
— Phil Rogers (@philgrogers) April 12, 2015

Did you see that? Aren’t you excited the best pitching prospect the White Sox have had since Chris Sale is really improving the overall balance of his pitching?

With him working on his changeup right now with the Charlotte Knights, along with his slider (which was described as “not his best”), they will be a perfect complement to the already dominating fastball he possesses once everything is eventually worked out on the mound.

Seth Lasko of The Charlotte Observer wrote this about the start of Rodon:

“After cruising through his first four innings of work, Rodon (1-0) ran into trouble in the fifth, walking his only two batters of the night to begin the frame.”

Lasko even quoted Rodon following the start:

“My fastball command was real good. My slider wasn’t at its best, but the changeup was a lot better. I don’t know, I threw 14 changeups and 17 sliders, but those 14 changeups were better than most of those sliders.”

What I like about this quote from Rodon is he knows there is work to be done in terms of perfecting his pitches, and he’s willing to put that work in until the White Sox feel it is time to bring him up to the majors.

Like I wrote before, I’m all for Rodon just staying in the minors until he is ready. I’d rather see him work every fifth day in Triple-A, rather than sit in the bullpen not knowing when he’ll make an appearance.

It seems as if start one of the season could be considered a success, and Rodon himself knows there is more work to be done before he arrives in the majors.

More White Sox MiLB news:

• This weekend the Charlotte Knights lost on Sunday, 9-2 to Norfolk with the loss charged to Scott Carroll, who falls to 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA. Carroll went just four innings in his first start of the season, allowing two earned runs on five hits and no walks. Carroll struck out four and allowed two home, runs. At the plate, Leury Garcia and Dan Black led the Knights with two hits each. Matt Davidson and Black each had an RBI. The Knights had eight hits in the loss.

• On Saturday, the Knights won 4-2. Engel Beltre was 2-for-4 with two runs. Dan Black was 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Tyler Saladino also collected an RBI, while Matt Tuiasosopo walked three times.

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