SOMERSET, NH — Carlos Rodón is right around the corner from making his MLB return with the New York Yankees. This past Thursday night on the bump for the Somerset Patriots in Double-A while pitching in his second start of his rehab assignment, the 33-year-old left-hander looked MLB ready.
Before his outing began, Rodón was working on some things in the bullpen with the Patriots’ coaches which seemed to serve him well on the mound.
“Just a couple of things in the leg lift,” the Cuban-American said after going 5.1 innings with eight strikeouts against the Boston Red Sox, Double-A Portland. “I was trying to refine some stuff and just a couple of things for me to focus on when I was going out there and seeing if it made some sort of difference with command and just getting a feel for the move.”
The most important takeaway of Rodón’s outing on Thursday was his pitch count reaching 74 with 51 coming as strikes and no walks allowed.
In 2025, Rodón put up his best season in pinstripes with 195.1 innings, 203 strikeouts, an ERA of 3.09 and a bWAR of 4.6—earning the honor of winning his second-career LatinoMVP Starting Pitcher of the Year Award—2025 AL with the Yankees and 2021 AL with the White Sox.
All of this speaks to Rodón’s evolution as a pitcher. His velocity might never be as high as it once was, but he has added more usage of his changeup, and curveball to account for that. His fastball and slider are still strengths but he isn’t trapped without them.
He also added a sinker and cutter last season after being primarily a two-pitch pitcher when the Yankees signed him back in 2023 (six-years for $162 million).
Carlos Rodón’s return on the mound in pinstripes will be coming sometime this month as the Yankees are off to a 21-11 start to the season – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
“So mainly (I was) a two pitch pitcher when I first showed up with the New York Yankees,” Rodón noted. “You know, flash that changeup every once in a while on a curveball, but now, the usage has gone up across all pitches. I added the sinker last year and kind of fooled around with the cutter the last couple of years. So, there’s been a lot more pitches out in the arsenal and I feel like the secondary command has grown a lot since 2023.”
Rodón’s velocity sat mainly in the 93-94-MPH range during Thursday’s start with some occasional 95-MPH fastball’s coming in. He had topped out at 100.5-MPH in the past with the Yankees but isn’t that worried about the velocity now and feels that his return to the Bronx could help that tick up a few miles per hour.
On that point, Yankees manager Aaron Boone provided an update on Rodón, stating that he will need at least one more rehab start which will take place this Tuesday, May 5th at Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre.
“I mean, I feel close,” Rodón said. “I’m not gonna say no. Obviously, I want to be pitching for my boys up there and trying to win ball games. So, I’m ready when they tell me they need me.”
Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content
Instagram: @latinosportsoficial
Facebook: Latino Sports
Twitter: @latinosports
