{"id":93568,"date":"2025-01-08T20:11:42","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T01:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=93568"},"modified":"2025-01-08T20:12:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T01:12:00","slug":"yankees-carlos-rodon-needs-postseason-improvement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/01\/08\/yankees-carlos-rodon-needs-postseason-improvement\/","title":{"rendered":"Carlos Rod\u00f3n Needs to Earn His Pay Beyond the Regular Season Next Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

The offseason so far is a work in progress for the New York Yankees. With various positions to fill and areas to improve, the current starting rotation is one to pay attention to. Eyes should be on Carlos Rod\u00f3n<\/a>, who was on and off<\/a> last season, with his postseason struggles coming to the fore.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Yankees are in a good situation with regard to starting pitching. The club has six technical starting pitchers. There are talks of the Yankees wanting to relieve themselves of Marcus Stroman<\/a> and his remaining $18 million contract. <\/span>The team may use Stroman as collateral for a trade<\/a>, possibly for a corner infielder. If the club decides to move another pitcher, would Carlos Rod\u00f3n be the next best option?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Carlos Rod\u00f3n\u2019s Postseason Inconsistency Raises Questions on His Reliability<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On paper, Rod\u00f3n looks like a great fit for most starting rotations in MLB. The totality of his statistics shows him as reliable and effective. Although he does mostly get the job done within the regular season (although he had a rough 2023 in his first season as a Yankee), Rod\u00f3n is shaky and inconsistent in the postseason<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The left-handed starter\u2019s first point of concern was in-game depth. Rodon started four games this postseason, only making it past four innings once. He threw 17 2\/3 total innings, allowing 21 hits, 11 earned runs, and a 5.60 ERA.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each of his starts was valued above a 4.00 ERA. In his first start on October 7th against the Kansas City Royals in the American League Division Series, he recorded a 9.82 ERA. Royals hitters averaged .389 against him,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His longevity is a concern along with his pitch effectiveness. This October, hitters dug in comfortably against Rod\u00f3n. 21 hits and five home runs in four postseason starts tell us that batters understand Rod\u00f3n and will be aggressive with him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Batters swing in the zone against Rodon 70.7% with a 79.7% zone-contact rate. He\u2019s in the zone 46.7% of the time. In the 2024 postseason, Rod\u00f3n threw 210 strikes out of 313 pitches thrown. He obviously stays in the zone too much.<\/span><\/p>\n

One recommendation here is for him to work off the zone and utilize more of his breaking pitches while keeping the fastball for late at-bat blow-bys.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Carlos Rod\u00f3n strikes out the side in the first! pic.twitter.com\/mhgnCLCIOq<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n