The New York Yankees spent a lot of money this offseason, most of it to keep Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo. However, they didn’t hesitate to dole out $162 million to starting pitcher Carlos Rodon, their most significant outside addition this winter, for a six-year contract. Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka says the team has a specific plan for Carlos Rodon. The team will discuss how to make the most of him when the starter joins the spring training.
The catcher spoke to Sweeny Murti of SNY:
“We’re going to have meetings to determine what they believe makes him successful and we’ll sit down with Carlos too and ask what he believes makes him successful. And usually just overlaying both of those on top of each other gives us a good picture of how to handle him.”
Carlos Rodon has the skills to give the New York Yankees a sheer feel of winnability. The team has become more ambitious after having a player, who has been demonstrating great competitiveness for years and ranks among the top pitchers in baseball.
The eight-year veteran, who turns 31 this year, pitched a 2.88 ERA for the Giants in 2022. He came sixth place in the NL Cy Young Award and was an All-Star Game for the second year in a row. His slider remains the most terrific in MLB.
Carlos Rodon pitched a career-high 178 innings last season, showing that he is very durable and putting to rest worries about his history of injuries. He also showed how deadly his strong fastball and slider combination can be, which made batters nervous.
Carlos Rodon is likely to be the Yankees‘ number two starter, right behind Gerrit Cole. But Kyle Higashioka will miss some of the spring training to play with Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Jose Trevino, who won the American League’s platinum glove in 2022, is likely to start at catcher for the Yankees. So, Rodon won’t work as much with his backup catcher in the spring is still interesting, and it will be interesting to see how that affects who he pitches to in the regular season.
Rising expectations from Carlos Rodon
Brian Cashman earlier told that adding Carlos Rodon to the Yankees’ rotation makes it a very dangerous one.
“It was an important get, to add to the front of our rotation. Obviously, Gerrit Cole has been carrying a lot of the weight, but now to add Rodon with Cole, who’s the frontline, and the emergence of Nestor Cortes and what he’s done in the last year and a half… Sevy coming back from injury. We have the makings of a really good rotation.”
Over the last two years, Carlos Rodon has improved as a player, which helped him get a good deal with the Yankees. The team has high hopes that when he is paired with Gerrit Cole, their pitching rotation will be powerful enough to give a major title push.
Carlos Rodon gives the starting rotation a lot of needed depth. Last season, the New York Yankees had to use some fill-in starters because they didn’t have enough LHP starters like Nestor Cortes. This problem has now been fixed.
It will be interesting to see if Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman’s risks pay off next season and if this Yankee team lives up to the high expectations that have been built after the arrival of Carlos Rodon.
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