The Chicago White Sox used to have a complete superstar in Carlos Rodon. The early parts of his career were really tough as he was always injured which forced his play to come off as inconsistent.
In 2021, however, he was as good as any pitcher in the league. He dealt with some arm fatigue at the end that probably cost him the Cy Young but he was truly amazing. He was a huge part of the White Sox winning the AL Central that year.
Of course, when players get expensive they no longer play for the Chicago White Sox. He signed a multi-year deal with the San Francisco Giants ahead of 2022 and was even better with them.
He did, however, opt out of that deal which he was allowed to do based on certain numbers that he reached. It might be that he didn’t enjoy it or that the Giants weren’t very good but he made the choice to leave.
Carlos Rodon was always a fun player for the Chicago White Sox.
Over the off-season, he signed a contract with the New York Yankees. That was always going to be somewhat annoying to White Sox fans because of course it was the Yankees.
However, after everything he had been through in his career, he deserved the best. A lot of the time, love them or hate them, the Yankees provide the best.
Rodon began this season on the injured list though. In fact, he just made his major league debut on Friday night. That is obviously big major league news. After all this time he finally pitched in a game for the Yankees.
He pitched in spring training and he made some minor league rehab starts to get ready for this moment. Based on how things are going in the Bronx, he is showing up at the perfect time.
His debut came against the Chicago Cubs which is very fitting. Of course, making that first start at home is always nice in situations like this.
Rodon went 5.1 innings of solid baseball for his new club. It wasn’t anything world beating but he did his job. In those 5.1 innings, he only allowed two earned runs on four hits and two walks.
He only had two strikeouts which isn’t Rodon-type stuff but that will come in time. He is going to clearly be a valuable asset to the Yankees during his time there as long as he stays healthy now.
The Yankees were unable to score any runs against the Cubs though which is far from Rodon’s fault. The Cubs ended up winning the game 3-0. That is the first time in franchise history that they beat the Yankees on the road.
This will be Rodon’s only start before the All-Star break and the Yankees are hitting the road when they return to action. Hopefully, Rodon finds it and has tremendous success with his new team.