NEW YORK -- There’s a good chance that Carlos Rodón has completed his final step towards returning to the mound for the Yankees. The left-hander, continuing his comeback from left elbow inflammation, tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings for Double-A Somerset on Thursday evening at TD Bank Ballpark. Rodón threw 58 pitches (41 strikes), allowing two hits and one walk to go with seven strikeouts.
This was Rodón’s second Minor League rehab outing in the past week: On Saturday, he threw 2 2/3 innings at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, giving up three runs on three hits to go with four strikeouts.
After a 27-minute rain delay in his outing with Somerset, Rodón allowed the first batter of the game to reach with a single on an 0-2 count, but he made quick work retiring the next two New Hampshire batters on three pitches -- the final pitch of the inning being a 6-3 double play. He then needed just 11 pitches to work through the second frame, notching his first two strikeouts.
In the third frame, leadoff hitter Cutter Coffey singled off Rodón’s first offering, and then stole second base before moving up to third on a wild pitch a batter later. Rodón ultimately struck out the side, fanning the next two batters with the runner on third -- largely getting swing attempts at pitches below the zone -- to strand Coffey in scoring position.
To finish off his outing, Rodón added two more strikeouts in the fourth frame. His only blip came near the end, walking the leadoff man in the fifth inning. He retired the next batter on a lineout to the shortstop, but Rodón exited in the middle of the following at-bat after throwing four pitches -- seemingly reaching his pitch limit for the evening.
It remains to be seen what version of Rodón returns as he’s preparing to rejoin the rotation -- whether he’s fully built up or will be placed in a “piggyback” situation with another starter. While the rotation is set for New York’s upcoming weekend series in Toronto, there’s a chance Rodón could re-enter the fray following the Yankees’ off-day on Monday for the mid-week set in Baltimore, with decisions regarding the status of pitchers like Will Warren and Ryan Weathers looming.
When Rodón landed on the 15-day injured list on June 30, he was enjoying a modicum of success, throwing a five-inning outing with no earned runs allowed against the Red Sox on June 28. On the season as a whole, he jumped out to a 4-2 record with a 3.30 ERA. All together, Yankees starters have kept the club afloat as one of the best units in the Majors, holding the second-best ERA mark in MLB (3.44) and the fourth-best opposing batting average (.226).