The Chicago White Sox had some ups and downs with Carlos Rodon throughout their days. Early on, it was mostly great as he was clearly a good pitcher. Then the rebuild started and he didn’t have guys like Chris Sale or Jose Quintana pitching in front of him.
When it was time to take that next step, he was often injured and that caused him to not pitch very well. As a former third-overall pick in the MLB Draft, he was starting to look like somewhat of a bust.
He came back healthy at the end of 2020 and pitched for the White Sox in the postseason. His stuff looked good but he wasn’t getting outs and the White Sox ended up losing the series to the Oakland A’s. Early in the off-season, the White Sox decided that they probably weren’t going to bring him back.
Things change quickly though as they decided to give him another chance as they signed him back a few months later. He had to compete for the fifth spot in the rotation (Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel, Dylan Cease, and Lance Lynn) with Reynaldo Lopez. He won it with a very strong spring training.
Carlos Rodon had some special moments with the Chicago White Sox.
Fast forward to his regular season and he was one of the five best pitchers in the American League. It was one of the greatest redemption stories in the history of the franchise. It was so good to see him bounce back and have all of that success.
The team made the boneheaded decision to let him walk after 2021 and he signed with the San Francisco Giants. Of course, contrary to popular belief, he was amazing and healthy once again. This time, he was one of the five best pitchers in the National League.
Over this past off-season, Rodon opted out of his contract with the Giants and was convinced to come to play for the New York Yankees. He finally got the big contract he felt he deserved which was well-earned by him. It would have been nice, however, if it was with the team that should have never let him go.
On Sunday, Rodon made his first start of the spring in a New York Yankees uniform and it did not go well for him at all. Again, it’s just spring but it wasn’t what he wanted to show off in his first spring game.
Rodon went 2.0 innings where he gave up five runs on six hits (all earned). He had one walk and gave up two home runs. He started the third inning but didn’t record an out so he only got credit for the 2.0 frames. Rodon also had two strikeouts which is a bright spot because we know his stuff is there.
As fans of Rodon, we don’t want to see this continue. There are a lot of fans that have disdain toward the New York Yankees but Rodon will always be a fan favorite in town. Hopefully, he bounces back strong and has a good year (when he’s not facing the White Sox).