Merciless boos greet Carlos Rodon after getting ‘ass whooped’

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AP Photo/Adam Hunger
Sara Molnick
Friday September 8, 2023

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While the younger players continue to demonstrate their value to the Yankees for the upcoming seasons, left-handed pitcher Carlos Rodon‘s performance is fast becoming a concern for the team. His performance on Thursday was far from impressive, marking a fresh nadir in a season that has been less than stellar for Carlos Rodon, and it also brought an end to the Yankees’ recent five-game winning streak. With this loss, the Yankees, who now stand at 70-70, find themselves trailing by seven games in the race for a wild-card spot.

On Thursday night at Yankee Stadium, Carlos Rodon endured a brutal outing. To put it in his own words, he was thoroughly dominated. The southpaw faced a consistent onslaught of hard-hit balls from one of the league’s weakest lineups, resulting in a season-high eight hits and seven earned runs conceded in a 10-3 defeat to the Tigers.

Carlos Rodon acknowledged that his stuff had been subpar and inconsistent, leading to his struggles. He mentioned that the opposing hitters had managed to make solid contact, and he summed it up by saying that he had a difficult outing where he was outperformed.

“Stuff was a little down, a little all over the place,” said Carlos Rodon. “They barrelled a lot of balls. Just got my ass whooped.”

This serves as a stark reminder that Carlos Rodon’s performance has been a significant letdown in a season already filled with disappointments. It also underscores the fact that the team’s offense, for a large part of the year, has lacked the firepower to overcome substantial deficits. Regrettably, this season, unless a miraculous turnaround occurs, is effectively concluded.

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AP Photo

Carlos Rodon declined to offer any excuses for his performance that night, acknowledging that he simply had not performed well and needed to improve. He mentioned that the team had been on a winning streak, and he had aimed to continue it but ended up having a disappointing outing where he performed poorly.

The first five games of the month may have given fans hope for the future, but the Yankees served up a harsh reminder of their recent struggles on Thursday night. Carlos Rodon faced boos from the crowd as he left the mound, and the team’s five-game winning streak came to a screeching halt with a 10-3 loss to the Tigers in front of 32,722 spectators in The Bronx.

Carlos Rodon reflected on the team’s recent success with five consecutive wins and noted that they were focused on extending that streak. However, he conceded that on that particular occasion, they had failed to perform well and described it as a disappointment.

Carlos Rodon gets ass whooped

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AP Photo/Adam Hunger

Detroit consistently generated an average exit velocity of 95.5 mph when facing Carlos Rodon, resulting in 15 balls put in play against the left-handed pitcher. Notably, even the outs recorded during Rodón’s 3 2/3 innings on the mound were hit hard. In the third inning, Jasson Domínguez had to retreat to the center field wall for back-to-back flyballs, both of which remained in the ballpark but would likely have been home runs in other stadiums.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone analyzed the performance, mentioning that Carlos Rodon was struggling to hit the desired spots with his pitches. Boone noted that there were instances where he missed the location, like pulling a fastball down and in or not hitting the intended up-and-away spot. He explained that the inconsistency in hitting those locations allowed the opposing hitters to make good swings and even connect with some decent pitches.

As Carlos Rodon’s abysmal performance mercifully concluded in the fourth inning, the merciless jeers began cascading down from the Yankee Stadium crowd. With his head hung low, Carlos Rodon trudged back to the dugout and slumped onto the bench, overwhelmed by a mix of frustration and confusion.

The signing of Carlos Rodon to a six-year contract in the past offseason had initially thrilled this fan base. The addition of another top-tier pitching talent to an already formidable rotation seemed well worth the substantial $162 million investment. However, up to this point, Carlos Rodon has failed to provide fans, the Yankees, or anyone else with reasons to be hopeful that his contract will prove to be a wise long-term move. He endured an injury-riddled first half of the season, marked by two separate stints on the injured list, and his on-field performance has been consistently subpar.

Carlos Rodon’s current contract is expected to encompass the prime years of his career, extending through his age-36 season.

The left-hander expressed his frustration with his own performance, acknowledging that he hadn’t performed well and hadn’t had many opportunities to do so, making it a frustrating situation for him.

If the 30-year-old doesn’t manage to resolve his issues and stage a comeback next spring, the Yankees could find themselves in a significant bind. An aging former All-Star who struggles to stay healthy and experiences regression when he does play would only compound one of the primary problems that plagued the team in 2023.

Nevertheless, there remains a glimmer of hope that Carlos Rodon could recapture his previous prowess in 2024. A productive offseason coupled with a spring free of injuries could serve as the ideal recipe for his resurgence. Furthermore, before his disappointing performance on Thursday, Carlos Rodon had displayed signs of improvement, boasting a 2.87 ERA in his three preceding starts. The underlying talent is still there; he’s just a long way from resembling the dominant force that played a pivotal role for the Giants last season and secured him a lucrative contract in the free-agent market.

Boone exudes confidence despite the debacle

Boone believes Carlos Rodon should eventually reach his usual level of performance based on the pitcher’s track record and physical condition. The manager noted that the pitcher’s physical abilities were not too far off from where they should be and attributed the struggles to various factors, including adapting to a new team, dealing with a start-and-stop season, and struggling to find a consistent rhythm. He pointed out that when looking at factors like average velocities and pitching profiles, many aspects remained consistent. The challenge lay in finding that fine balance that differentiates a great performance from a situation where the pitcher was trying to regain his form.

Boone commented that they needed to aim for a strong finish in the current month with Carlos Rodon and hoped to position themselves for a strong start into the next year, considering his pitching abilities.

His repertoire, particularly his fastball velocity, appeared slightly diminished on Thursday. Even some of the outs he secured were hit hard, with a couple of deep fly balls narrowly missing home runs.

Strong performances, especially from the younger players and the starting rotation, have rekindled a faint hope of reaching the postseason. However, Carlos Rodon’s lackluster outing served as a stark reminder of the challenges involved in achieving that unlikely goal.

The Yankees signed the prominent left-handed pitcher to be the standout addition from the previous season, hoping that Carlos Rodon would be the starter to propel them to success.

Instead, along with an underwhelming offensive output, he has contributed to the team’s downfall. Carlos Rodon endured a rough outing against Detroit, surrendering seven runs on eight hits over 3 ²/₃ innings.

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Twitter-@TalkinYanks

Carlos Rodon has consistently taken responsibility for his performance but has struggled to deliver results. His season has been marred by injuries, with forearm and back problems delaying his debut until July. Upon his return, he lacked the dominant stuff that had earned him All-Star status in the previous two seasons.

He experienced multiple starts and interruptions, including an additional stint on the injured list in August due to a hamstring injury. Although he had strung together three promising starts in a row, yielding only five runs over 15 ²/₃ innings, his progress was once again halted by this subpar performance.

The Yankees are still eagerly awaiting the return of the dominant pitcher Carlos Rodon has been in the past.

What do you think? Leave your comment below.

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