Bridgewater, New Jersey – For a team armed with one of the best starting rotations in baseball, the Yankees appear to be on the verge of strengthening an already stellar unit.
Left-handed pitcher Carlos Rodón turned in a strong rehab start with the Patriots on Thursday night at TD Bank Ballpark. He filled the strike zone early and often, tossing 4.1 scoreless innings against New Hampshire in his second rehab outing since being placed on the injured list on June 30 with left elbow inflammation.
The 33-year-old allowed just two hits and surrendered one walk while striking out seven batters before exiting at the 58-pitch mark midway through the fifth inning. It was an important box for him to check in his trek back to the Bronx after throwing 48 pitches in his previous outing with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on August 8.
“The goal was to go out there and throw as many strikes as I could,” said Rodon, who landed 41 of his 58 pitches for strikes. “I wanted to be efficient with five ups.”
Before landing on the injured list, Rodon, who has a 3.30 ERA with 52 strikeouts over 46.1 innings with New York this season, was averaging 94.4 MPH on his four-seam fastball. On Thursday, the left-hander regularly sat around 93 MPH according to readings provided by the stadium radar gun.
While he expects his velocity to climb a bit once he returns to a major league environment, it was the consistency and shape of his secondary offerings that carried Rodon on Thursday. Of his seven punchouts on the night, three came on his changeup, three on his slider and one on a curveball.
“Fairly crisp,” Rodon said when assessing his outing. “I was happy - made some quick adjustments with the changeup early on. Fastball was good – I think it’ll be a tick up whenever I show back up in the big leagues. Slider was decent and I got some swing and miss, and I was happy with the curveball.”
The Yankees starting rotation boasts a cumulative 3.44 ERA on the year, which ranks second-best in all of MLB. The current version of the rotation has a combined 10 MLB All-Star appearances and with his second rehab outing now in the books, Rodon, a three-time All-Star in his own right, believes he could be ready to join the mix whenever the club decides to call his name.
“I feel like I am always ready to get big league hitters out,” Rodon said. “Obviously, I would love to be able to compete and help our team win. But that’s not up to me.”
Matt Kardos | SomersetPatriots.com Senior Writer
Matt Kardos has covered the Yankees minor league system for over a decade and will spend his 14th season on the beat covering the Patriots for SomersetPatriots.com. Throughout his career, Matt has contributed to MLB.com, YES Network and Pinstriped Prospects. When he’s not at the ballpark, Matt enjoys traveling with his wife Kimberly, watching Jets football and collecting sports cards.