When an athlete faces his old team, he usually downplays it and says it’s “just another game,” but that wasn’t the case for New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodon after meeting the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
“Going up against your former club is a big deal,” Carlos Rodon said, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “I definitely wanted to beat them.”
Rodon spent seven seasons with the White Sox before joining the San Francisco Giants in 2022.
The Yankees completed a sweep of the White Sox with a 7-2 victory on Sunday, and Rodon continued his stellar season with a six-inning outing in which he allowed two earned runs and struck out six batters. Rodon’s ERA has dropped to 3.27 this season. Rodon has experienced a significant resurgence following an injury-plagued 2023 season in which he struggled after returning. This year, Rodon is more relaxed.
“I sit down in the dugout now and look around, and I feel pretty comfortable sitting in this stadium,” Rodon said through Hoch. “I was thinking about it the first month of April.” I’m looking around and thinking, ‘This doesn’t feel as overpowering anymore. “It feels like home.”
Rodon has now adjusted to New York, which is a good indication after signing a six-year, $162 million contract last offseason. Manager Aaron Boone pondered pulling Rodon earlier in the game, but opted to let him play six innings. Rodon spoke about his conversation with his manager.
“I wanted that last one,” Rodon explained. “I checked the dugout and gave him a small signal, like, ‘Hey, I’ve got this. ‘This one is mine. I’m pleased he left me inside.”
New York improved to 33-15 on the season and now leads the American League East by two games over the Baltimore Orioles. That is the greatest record in the American League. Almost every aspect of the team is working at the moment. There will likely be difficult stretches this season, but you can see the promise in this Yankees squad.
Yankees rotation picking up the load in Gerrit Cole’s absence.
When it was announced that Gerrit Cole would miss considerable time this season, not even the most optimistic Yankees fan could have predicted the starting rotation to perform so well. New York expects Cole to return this summer, and all five starters are now giving solid innings.
In addition to Rodon, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt have been excellent. Marcus Stroman has also been solid, while Nestor Cortes has not performed poorly.
Rodon is likely the most important piece of this owing to his contract, and it appears that he has the mindset to prosper the rest of the way.
“My goal is to go out there and think about getting 18 outs every time I come to the field,” Rodon stated through Hoch. “The idea is to begin with 18 outs and progress from there. I simply want to give my team a chance to win. “That’s it.”
The Yankees appear to have a chance to win every day, whether Rodon is on the mound or not.
