For Carlos Rodon, the 2025 season has gotten off to an interesting start. Through his first five starts, Rodon sits with a 2-3 record and a 4.34 ERA.
When looking at that stats, it’s hard to see Rodon as a valuable pitcher. But a deeper dive shows his record and ERA don’t properly exemplify his season.
For a majority of his outings, Rodon has looked like a great No. 2 weapon in the Yankees rotation behind Max Fried. What bites him is a combination of too many walks and untimely home runs.
On the season, Rodon ranks in the top 30 with only 16 hits allowed. But he is tied with Roki Sasaki for the league lead in walks with 16. Rodon currently ranks seventh in the MLB with a 13.8 percent walk percentage, the highest of his career.
Ever since Rodon has put on pinstripes, allowing home runs has been a consistent issue. Earlier this season, he allowed his 51st home run in pinstripes, tying J.A. Happ for the most in a player’s first 50 starts with the Yankees.
Complicating the issue is the fact that Rodon has gotten into the habit of allowing crucial two-or-three-run home runs that put the game just out of reach for the Yankee offense.
Against Detroit, Rodon walked consecutive batters before allowing a three-run blast. It was a similar story against San Francisco, this time allowing an infield single and a walk before allowing another three-run homer.
But these low moments for Rodon only make up a small percentage of his outings. For the most part, Rodon looks like a shut-down starter.
On the other side of the coin, when Rodon is finding the zone, he’s unstoppable. Along with being among the leaders in walks, Rodon ranks seventh in the league with 37 strikeouts while sitting with an 11.5 K/9 ratio, the highest since his 2022 All-Star campaign.
On the season, opponents are only hitting .163 off of Rodon, the third-best mark in the entire league. He ranks in the top 12 with a 31 percent whiff percentage and 61 swings and misses on the year.
These stats show for the most part, Rodon has been a great pitcher. It’s just the one or two moments in the game that lead to things getting out of hand.
On Saturday against the Rays, things didn’t get out of hand. Although he walked four batters, Rodon kept the ball in the park. He tossed six scoreless innings and allowed only two hits en route to the Yankees squeezing out a 1-0 win.
He’s shown bright spots during his first few starts. Going forward, what needs to be done is simple: limit the walks and limit the big blows. If that recipe can be followed, Rodon can be expected to pitch just like he did against Tampa Bay.
