White Sox left-hander has solid start against defending American League Champions. More consistency is needed if he is to become ace of rotation.
The Chicago White Sox needed another solid outing from a starting pitcher on Sunday and they got it from Carlos Rodon. The 2014 first round draft pick had his second best start of the season against the defending American League Champion Cleveland Indians.
In helping the Sox to a 3-1 win over the Indians, Rodon pitched a season-high 6.2 innings while recording nine strikeouts and giving up just one earned run. This was his third start of 2017 of recording nine or more strikeouts. Although Rodon wasn’t credited with a victory, his outing on Sunday was a positive reminder of what his future could look like on the mound.
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However, this season Rodon hasn’t shown much consistency after he’s had a stellar start. On July 3 against the Oakland Athletics, Rodon pitched a then season-high 6.1 innings and recorded 10 strikeouts while only giving up two earned runs. After this start however, Rodon failed to record more than four strikeouts in his next two outings, and didn’t last more than 5.1 innings in any of his appearances until Sunday.
With the Sox not having much of a starting rotation and bullpen after recent trades, they need Rodon to become the top pitcher on the team. Rodon has the talent to become a top of the rotation starter, but he just hasn’t been very consistent throughout his brief career. Although this is the case, Rodon has to be given some more time to get in a rhythm this season.
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Rodon’s start on Sunday was his sixth of the 2017 campaign. The 24-year-old is basically still in Spring Training as he only made one start before the regular season. Rodon finished last season strongly and was looking like he could take hold of the number two spot in the rotation to begin 2017. With the trade of Jose Quintana, Rodon could very well be the next ace for the Sox. He will need to have more consistently good starts in order to begin fulfilling his true potential.