Tampa, FL., — Carlos Rodon had his first official live training for the New York Yankees on Friday afternoon and the left-hander did it like he was still in his midseason form, which is fantastic news for the team. As the starting pitcher took to the mound at George M. Steinbrenner Field, batters and catchers got a first-hand experience of how fiercely Carlos Rodon could be.
Kyle Higashioka, who caught Carlos Rodon for the second time on Friday, thought his arsenal was pretty impressive for now and said, “Slider was filthy, curveball was filthy, and fastball looks like it just takes off from his hand.”
According to Bryan Hoch, the pitcher “brought heat” in his first training appearance for the Yankees. He went on to say:
“Carlos Rodon out here on the mound at George M. Steinbrenner Field for the first time in a Yankees uniform today. Showing off a little bit of why the Yankees are so excited to give him the ball about 30 times this summer. Rodon threw two simulated innings, carving up a bunch of Yankee catchers with his fastball and slider combination.”
Jose Trevino and Ben Rortvedt had been at the plate for 12 pitches. At 1:32 in the following video, one can see Carlos Rodon throwing his last breaking ball, which threw the batter off balance and made him lunge for the ball.
Carlos Rodon asked out loud, using colorful language and a bit of sarcasm if the Yankees batters were just not going to swing at all. Kyle Higashioka, who was catching Rodon, said, “I was laughing pretty hard behind the plate.”
The left-hander struck out the next batter on three pitches to end the simulated inning. Thus, Carlos Rodon showed off both the edge and high-end stuff that led the Yankees to sign him for a six-year, $162 million contract in December.
“[It was] fun, because you see how competitive he gets,” manager Aaron Boone told after the live training session. “Trevy was tracking that first at-bat against him and he’s ticked off we’re not swinging and kind of raises his game a little bit.”
Manager Boone said Carlos Rodon is getting more comfortable. But the fierce competitiveness with which he throws was clear on Friday, even during a 30-35 pitch session against batters that didn’t really matter.
“He’s just a little brash and confident,” Boone said. “He’s just competitive. You see it every time we get into, certainly a live situation. But he comes with that reputation, having a little fire to him. He’s also easy to talk to, easy to fit in with. I feel like he’s off to a good start.”
Carlos Rodon is impressed with “first-class” Yankees
Carlos Rodon arrived at the Yankees player training complex in Tampa two weeks early to get himself ready for the season. He talked to the media about the Yankees’ rotation on Thursday and said that he has faith in it. The starter said that everything about the Yankees was “first-class.”
Since Carlos Rodon has been one of the best starting pitchers in baseball for the last two years, the Yankees hope to see more of that and better results. Rodon, who is 30 years old, is expected to be a strong No. 2 behind Gerrit Cole. The two could help each other improve their games.
From Rodon’s point of view, he thinks that the Yankees’ rotation can do anything this coming season.
“It’s going to be pretty good, I would say,” Carlos Rodon said during a press conference. “A lot of good arms. Quite a few All-Stars, it seems like. I think it could be something special if we all do our job and show up every five days and take the ball, even though sometimes we won’t feel great. That’s just part of the game.”
“The biggest thing for me coming over and being a New York Yankee was just the track record where there’s always a chance to be the last one standing,” Rodon said. “I’ve never really had that shot. … Every time I step on that mound, I’m going to leave it all out there. And do everything I can to win, because that’s what I’m here for.”
Carlos Rodon had to deal with injuries early in his career, but he has been healthy for the last two seasons. This has allowed the former No. 3 overall draft pick to pitch up to his full potential. In the last two years, he threw his four-seam fastball and slider almost all the time and had a 2.67 ERA. He struck out 422 batters in 310 2/3 innings. In 2022, they made up 92.3% of his pitches, and in 2021, they made up 85.9%.
With Luis Severino and Nestor Cortes, the Yankees will have four former All-Stars in their rotation. Frankie Montas is going to have shoulder surgery and the fifth spot may go to Domingo German or Clarke Schmidt.
“Start to start, we can definitely push each other,” Carlos Rodon said. “It’s one of those competitions with myself. But everyone has been looking at Gerrit for a while. It’s fun to watch him. He makes it look easy.”
At the end of last season, Carlos Rodon started throwing more curveballs. He said on Friday that he plans to keep doing that this season while also working to improve the shape of his changeup so that it can be used as another option.
How far can Carlos Rodon help the Yankees? That might have to wait about six weeks.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
