Carlos Rodón says he’s enjoyed the heightened atmosphere October brings to the Bronx, how the fans are louder and the stakes so supercharged. “It’s a treat to be able to step on the mound in Yankee Stadium in the playoffs,” Rodón noted on Sunday.
He’ll be at his happy place on Tuesday, when he starts Game 3 of the ALDS against the Blue Jays and Shane Bieber. But Rodón will have to cope with more than just the enjoyable parts of pitching there in October, since this best-of-five series has gone dangerously haywire for the Yankees.
With the Bombers down 0-2 and facing elimination, Rodón faces tremendous pressure to save the season. Or at least help extend it and give the Yanks more life. Can Rodón be the stopper that Max Fried wasn’t on Sunday?
We can’t possibly know until he takes the ball. But we do know this – the Yankees brought Rodón here for starts like this, to excel in big spots. He didn’t get a six-year, $162 million contract to be a mid-rotation piece who just sucks up innings. He needs signature starts, outings that fans will remember and, perhaps, even cite as an example for future Yankee teams pushed to the brink.
After by far his best season as a Yankee, there’s plenty of evidence that Rodón can seize this moment. He was 18-9 with a 3.09 ERA in 33 starts, finishing second in the AL in wins and eighth in ERA. He’s awfully hard to get a hit against – he allowed 6.1 hits per nine innings, the best mark in the American League. Opponents batted .188 against him.
That means it’ll be fascinating to see how he fares against the Blue Jays, who had the most hits in the majors, and excel at putting the ball in play. Toronto had the lowest strikeout percentage in baseball, which means that Rodón might have to seek outs in different ways.
He acknowledged Sunday in the pre-game interview room, “I’ve always chased the strikeout.”
To his credit, though, Rodón also talked about how he’s watched Fried, a fellow lefty, rack up outs via weak contact. It made him weigh the merits of forcing contact to get quick outs, rather than slogging through a longer battle. We’ll see if he can apply that to the Blue Jays on Tuesday.
“They're tough to strike out,” Rodón said. “They force action. They put the ball in play. They make teams play defense. They're pretty athletic. There's also slug within the lineup.
“And it makes it tough. There's times where you need a strikeout and just the miss isn't there.”
During the season, Rodón had a 3.60 ERA against Toronto, allowing six runs (four earned) in 10 innings. But he walked eight batters, a potential red flag for a start in which a few walks might lead to Yankee doom.
Another potential reason for limited confidence in him – Rodón’s career postseason ERA is 6.15, including a 5.32 mark as a Yankee. Last year, he was so overamped in his first playoff start against the Royals, he could not get out of the fourth inning, despite starting with three scoreless innings, including a 1-2-3 first with three Ks. He had a terrific start against Cleveland in Game 1 of the ALCS, but was spotty in two outings afterward.
He said earlier this postseason that he learned from those experiences. He has a 4.50 ERA so far this October, but lasted six innings against the Red Sox, enough to help the Yankees win Game 2.
Starting pitching was such a huge part of the Yankees victory over Boston in the Wild Card series – the rotation had a 1.33 ERA. But the starters have been a main factor in the Yankees getting clobbered twice in a row in Toronto. Yankee starters have gotten a total of 17 outs (eight by Luis Gil, nine by Fried) in this series. In their combined 5.2 innings of work, they have a 14.29 ERA.
That alarming trend must change in Game 3. A win could shift the whole feel of this series, especially with the way the Yankees fought back in Game 2, scoring seven runs in a two-inning span after falling way behind. Aaron Judge looked sharp at the plate; Giancarlo Stanton broke out a little, too. Perhaps the lineup is beginning to percolate. And wunderkind Cam Schlittler, who smothered the Red Sox in the last series, is slated to pitch Game 4.
But until the Yanks actually win a game, the series has, for them, a dark cloud hovering close. Elimination is looming and the Jays are 10-5 against the Yanks this year, though the Bombers were 4-2 against Toronto at the Stadium.
When you sign a big free agent contract to come to New York, you’re expected to crave these moments. You’re expected to deliver, too.
Rodón’s got a fascinating chance here. A big performance could ink him into Yankee lore alongside some pretty remarkable names.
Can he seize the moment and save the Yanks, even if just for one more day?
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