Yankees' Carlos Rodon: Ends exhibition slate in fine form
Rotowire
Rodon hurled 4.2 scoreless innings in a Grapefruit League game against the Tigers on Friday, allowing three hits and issuing three walks while striking out five batters.
Rodon was a bit wild in the outing, as he threw just 45 of 77 pitches for strikes and handed out three free passes. However, he didn't give up any extra-base hits and got three of his five strikeouts on changeups. Rodon concluded the exhibition slate with a 5.40 ERA, 1.80 WHIP and 10:6 K:BB over 10 innings. His next start is scheduled for Opening Day against Milwaukee.
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Yankees' Carlos Rodon: Tapped for Opening Day
Rotowire
Manager Aaron Boone announced Friday that Rodon will start Opening Day against the Brewers on March 27, Pete Caldera of The Bergen Record reports.
The left-hander will step in as the Yankees' Opening Day starter with Gerrit Cole (elbow) lost for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Rodon struggled during his first year in the Bronx during 2023 with a 6.85 ERA in 14 regular-season starts, but he rebounded last season and finished with a 3.96 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 195:57 K:BB across 175 regular-season innings.
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Yankees' Carlos Rodon: Candidate to start Opening Day
Rotowire
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday that Max Fried "might not line up" to be the team's Opening Day starter, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports, making Rodon a possibility for the assignment.
Gerrit Cole was the logical choice to start Opening Day for New York until he hurt his elbow and was diagnosed as needing Tommy John surgery. Fried would make sense to step in for the Opening Day honor, but the team may elect to not tinker with his schedule. If Fried isn't assigned the role, Rodon would be next in line given his standing as the Yankees No. 2 starter sans Cole and Luis Gil (lat). Rodon hasn't pitched in a spring game since Feb. 27, and it isn't clear when he'll make his next Grapefruit League appearance, but the Yankees haven't indicated that he's dealing with an injury or illness. Boone indicated Tuesday that the team is expected to announce an Opening Day starter in the next few days.
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Yankees' Carlos Rodon: Has another rough spring outing
Rotowire
Rodon allowed three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out four batters over 2.2 innings in a Grapefruit League game against Philadelphia on Thursday.
Rodon struck out three batters in a scoreless first inning, but he then allowed a two-run homer to Johan Rojas in the second. The veteran lefty pitched into the third, departing with two outs after giving up a run-scoring double. Rodon has yielded six runs over 5.1 frames through two spring starts, but he's building up his pitch count nicely, throwing 57 pitches Thursday.
Rodon tossed 2.2 innings against Toronto in Grapefruit League play Saturday, allowing three runs on five hits and one walk while striking out one batter.
It wasn't a great exhibition debut for Rodon, though he wasn't hit particularly hard -- all five knocks against him were singles. The veteran lefty did log a promising workload with 48 pitches, and his changeup usage was up from his norm last season, which could be an indication of his plans to adjust for the coming campaign after opponents belted 21 homers off his four-seamer last year. Rodon is expected to slot third in the Yankees' rotation behind Gerrit Cole and Max Fried.
