{"id":67783,"date":"2024-03-08T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T13:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=67783"},"modified":"2024-03-07T14:47:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T19:47:43","slug":"carlos-rodon-yankees-pitcher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/03\/08\/carlos-rodon-yankees-pitcher\/","title":{"rendered":"The Yankees Shouldn&#8217;t Be Too Concerned About Rotation Member"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rodonca01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-07_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carlos Rod\u00f3n<\/a>&#8216;s first two starts of the Spring, he has surrendered three home runs and has yet to hit peak velocity. The recent events have left many fans of the New York Yankees worried that another season of struggle from the left-hander is coming. However, other telling signs about the Yankees number two inspire hope. Rod\u00f3n is developing a new effective pitch and tweaking his mechanics for sustainability and deception. If you put these two prominent factors together and some other minor details, Rod\u00f3n could be on the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/03\/06\/clay-holmes-yankees-closer\/\" target=\"_self\">cusp of a strong<\/a> 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Carlos Rod\u00f3n Has Looked Shaky<\/h2>\n<h3>Rodon\u2019s New Pitching Mechanics<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Pitchers Debuting New Pitches Yesterday<\/p>\n<p>Riley Pint (Slider): 31 thrown<br \/>\nPatrick Corbin (Cutter): 17 thrown<br \/>\nTaj Bradley (Split-Finger): 11 thrown<br \/>\nCarlos Rodon (Cutter): 10 thrown<br \/>\nJoe Ryan (Sinker): 8 thrown<br \/>\nRiley Pint (4-Seam Fastball): 6 thrown<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jon Anderson (@JonPgh) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonPgh\/status\/1765725246068265030?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Despite giving up three home runs in spring training, Rod\u00f3n has looked better than reported. He has better command of his fastball and pitches in general due to a change in mechanics. Last year, Rod\u00f3n was more open when driving towards the plate when starting his delivery. This year, he has been more closed off, allowing him to hide the ball better from the batter. This also has another effect: the ability to create more torque in his legs when throwing. Think of it like a springboard; the more you cork the spring, the more power it has when exploding. It is the same with Rod\u00f3n; the more he turns his lift leg towards third base, the more weight he holds back to be used later in an explosive delivery.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The more any pitcher can use their legs to generate velocity, the less likely they are for an arm injury. Rod\u00f3n himself is no exception to arm injuries as he suffered from shoulder and Tommy John surgery in the past. He also arrived into last year&#8217;s spring training with a forearm strain in his pitching arm to better lessen the load on his arm. It may be concerning for Yankee fans to see him struggle so early on, but it is better to learn his new mechanics in Spring than in the regular season. The upside is too great not to try these new mechanics, as it could mean Rodon stays healthy for an entire season.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Taking a Note from Yankee Legends<\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Rod\u00f3n is also working on a new pitch, the cutter, which many Yankee legends have used heavily in their careers to achieve great success. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pettian01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-07_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andy Pettitte<\/a>\u00a0was a notable left-hander who used the cutter as an out pitch or pitch to induce weak contact.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cortene01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-07_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nestor Cortes Jr.<\/a> is also using the pitch and has done so to great effect. One could even say that pitch has made Cortes&#8217;s career with the Yankees. It is an effective pitch because it can break the bats of right-handed hitters and get easy outs. At the same time, the cutter can also be used as a strikeout pitch to deceive hitters by missing bats, while an average four-seen fastball would get squared up and hit.<\/p>\n<p>Rod\u00f3n has already shown good signs so far using this pitch, as he was primarily a two-pitch pitcher last year. Now, he has a third pitch to help him induce soft contact; Rod\u00f3n may be in a good position on opening day.<\/p>\n<p>Yankee fans are also concerned about his velocity being relatively low by his standards. However, fans should remember that it is only spring training, and pitchers must build up before the season. Another thing fans should remember is\u00a0that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/colege01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-07_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gerrit Cole<\/a>\u00a0took some<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fangraphs.com\/players\/gerrit-cole\/13125\/stats?position=P#pitch-info-pitch-velocity\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> velocity off his fastball<\/a> last year. How is this relevant? It allowed Cole to command his pitches better while protecting his arm.<\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Final Analysis on Carlos Rod\u00f3n<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As much as Yankee fans are nervous about Rod\u00f3n, they should remember it is only spring training. There are no apparent signs of injury, and he has arrived in good shape. As Rod\u00f3n is learning how to pitch in a completely different way than he has in the past, fans have to be patient. These changes take time, even from the game&#8217;s best, but they should not cause massive concern. If Rod\u00f3n can make these adjustments, the Yankees may have the best one-two punch in baseball.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo: \u00a9 Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Carlos Rod\u00f3n&#8216;s first two starts of the Spring, he has surrendered three home runs and has yet to hit peak velocity. The recent events have left many fans of the New York Yankees worried that another season of struggle from the left-hander is coming. However, other telling signs about the Yankees number two inspire [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4951,"featured_media":67842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1071,5],"tags":[997,197,611],"class_list":["post-67783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-mlb","category-yankees","tag-andy-pettitte","tag-carlos-rodon","tag-gerrit-cole"],"modified_by":"Matt Graves","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4951"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}