Carlos Rodon Was Perfect Trough 5 Innings Last Night

Carlos Rodon was perfect in last night’s game through five innings. Even though Rodon’s night came to a spectacular end, he walked a batter, gave up a double, and gave up a home run in his last three batters. The Yankees need Rodon to pitch well, given the season-ending injury to ace Gerrit Cole. The Yankees pay him $28 million a year so they expect him to pitch well. Rodon was excellent last night and has pitched much better in his last three starts. Do you think he has turned a corner?

Carlos Rodon’s Big Night

Last night in the second game of the series at the Baltimore Orioles, he was perfect through five innings. He was perfect for five innings, which means no Oriole reached base in any manner. Fifteen up, fifteen down. He threw 91 pitches last night and needed only 62 pitches to get through 5 innings. He struck out seven and is first in the American League with 52 strikeouts. Last night, he walked only one batter.

That has been a bug-a-boo for him. What is even better about last night is that Rodon has pitched well in his last three starts. Baltimore struggles against left-handed pitchers and has generally struggled to hit this year, so both factors helped the Yankees.

Carlos Rodon In His Last 3 Starts

Maybe Rodon has turned a corner. In his last three starts, he has allowed just three runs (two earned) over 19 innings with 24 strikeouts. Going back in time, Rodon has pitched six, seven, and six innings for the New York Yankees. He has won all three of those starts and walked only seven batters. Before the last three starts the $162 million lefty had been bad. Cerrtainly not worth the money the Yankees are paying him.

The Mental Aspect

The $162 million man has an odd personality. He gets unnerved if anything bad happens. This could be the umpire calling a close pitch of his ball, leading to a walk, or him giving up a home run. The latter is bad because he led the American League last year in that department. He has given up six home runs so far this season.

He should be mentally tougher. The Yankees expect that out of him, however, he has been like this his entire 10- year major league career. The start last night lived up to that. Perfect for five innings, Rodon unraveled, giving up a walk, double, and long home run to the last three batters he faced.

Conclusion

The Yankees need Rodon to be an ace of their pitching staff, and he looked the part last night. One way for him to overcome his mental problems is to be perfect. This way, he does not give up any walks or home runs to upset him. Maybe he has turned a corner. That would be important for him and important for the Yankees.