Carlos Rodons personal evolution front and center…
Carlos Rodón is aware of the stakes.
“Must-win game tomorrow. Go out there and compete,” the Game 2 starter said after the Yankees’ 3-1, Game 1 loss to the Red Sox in The Bronx on Tuesday.
Pushed to the brink in the Wild Card Round, the Yankees look toward a lefty whose tenure in pinstripes has been outlined by evolution.
The 2023 season was an injury-filled catastrophe that was a catastrophe on the mound, too. For 2024, a earlier fastball and slider specialist added a cutter, spiked the usage of his changeup and established he may very well be a reliable beginning pitcher in pinstripes.
This season he has introduced a sinker into what is now a five-pitch combine and has confirmed he could be more than just reliable, but an All-Star who will obtain Cy Young votes.
Carlos Rodón is seen during pitching drills during the Yankees’ wild-card apply on Sept. 29, 2025. JASON SZENES/ NY POST
The maturation has prolonged to his character and on-mound demeanor. At this time last yr, Rodón was blazing, roaring and stomping his means through the top of the Royals lineup, putting out the aspect in the first inning of Game 2 of the ALDS. And then he was fading, permitting 4 runs in a fourth inning he didn’t survive.
The Rodón that the world and the Yankees see Wednesday won’t be the one Kansas City noticed.
“I learned a lot about staying within myself and just trying to keep everything in check,” Rodón said. “So, hopefully I can keep that going for this year.”
A calmer Rodón, with his power more managed, will oppose Brayan Bello in The Bronx with a likelihood to keep the season alive, bounce back from an up-and-down 2024 postseason — Rodón was strong in two ALCS begins and poor against the Royals and Dodgers — and exhibit that his pitch combine shouldn’t be all that has modified.
Rodón had pitched with a fire to match the high-90s heat he often produced. He no longer has to attain back for his best four-seamer because of his means to pitch, and he no longer has to expend power celebrating a strikeout.
“I have had a lot of help with that,” said Rodón, who talked in explicit with two pitchers after that Royals outing: Andy Pettitte and Gerrit Cole.
Pettitte, himself so often the October Game 2 starter and now a Yankees adviser, owned a 3.81 ERA in this time of yr, the Yankees successful 23 of 32 postseason video games in which he pitched. Last yr’s ace Cole has change into this yr’s assistant pitching coach. Both are considerate pitchers accustomed to managing feelings in pressurized moments.
“Those two, after that start,” Rodón said, “got my mind where it needed to be.”
Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón is seen during the wild card apply on Sept. 29, 2025. JASON SZENES/ NY POST
His adjusted mindset has resulted in fewer viral moments, like blowing a kiss to heckling Yankees followers in Anaheim two years in the past or turning his back on pitching coach Matt Blake late in that season. His ardour on the mound is more harnessed and refined.
The pitches and the pitcher have continued to evolve forward of one of the most important begins of his life.
“There are things I can look back on, but tomorrow is tomorrow. It’ll be different,” Rodón said. “But it should be fun.”
— Additional reporting by Dan Martin
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