As the New York Yankees enter the postseason on the crest of a wave that has seen them win ten of their last 11 games, they are firing on most cylinders. The home runs are flowing, particularly early in games, and the mid-season reinforcements to the pitching staff are adding some security. Yet one of the best performers all season has gone largely unheralded.
Alongside staff ace Max Fried, star rookie Cam Schlittler and the solid Will Warren, Carlos Rodon has been an excellent #2 starter in the rotation all season. Indeed, so solid has he been this season that he has actually done something never before done in the 123-year history of the Yankees franchise.
According to a post on X by Katie Sharp, with his performance in his most recent outing against the Chicago White Sox, Rodon has become the first Yankee to ever record 200 strikeouts in a season, while giving up less than 140 hits. For all the great Yankees starters over the years – Andy Pettitte, Ron Guidry, Mel Stottlemyre, CC Sabathia, Red Ruffing, Whitey Ford, and all the others – no one has ever hit the two milestones in the same season before.
Front Line Starter
Hits, of course, have been down all across baseball over the past few years. Not through a loss of hitter quality, but a refocus on hitter intent – fewer balls are getting hit, but those that are hit are being hit further. This is the era of the OPS, the Three True Outcomes, the slugging more than the contact. Baseball today is more about Russell Branyans than B.J. Surhoffs.
It also however speaks to Rodon’s hardiness and longevity over the course of the season. To be able to hit these milestones, he has needed to be healthy, and he has been. In his 33 starts, Rodon – who finishes the regular season second in decisions, with 27, behind Zac Gallen of the Arizona Diamondbacks – recorded an 18-9 record and a 3.09 ERA, giving up only 132 hits in 195.1 innings pitch, for a league-leading 6.1 hits per nine innings. Giving up only a 7.5% barrel rate all season, Rodon’s slider has been particularly unhittable, yielding only a .133 batting average against on the 913 such pitches he has thrown, per Baseball Savant.
For the Yankees as a team, Rodon’s performances made for a strong top two of the rotation and a steadied staff in light of the season-long absence of Gerrit Cole. For Rodon as an individual, 2025 marks the completion of an excellent turnaround.
Rodon Never Ran
After signing with the Yankees as a free agent in the winter of 2022 to a six-year, $162 million contract, Rodon had his worst season as an MLB player, by quite some way. His first season as a Yankee saw him throw only to a 6.85 ERA across 14 injury-affected starts – and the boos rained down freely.
Facing the adversity of the New York environment and the demanding Yankees fans, Rodon did not waver. He got healthy, he got back his stuff and developed his change-up further against lefties, he grew a beard, and he knuckled down. Whereas one hit used to yield another, the 2025 version of Carlos Rodon does not compound mistakes, and trusts in the pitches and the strategy. And the results back it up.
The particulars of the 200/140 thresholds may seem pernickety and somewhat arbitrary, and perhaps they are. But any opportunity to show praise for the Rolon Redemption should be taken. He could have rested on his laurels, cashed his enormous checks, and hidden from the criticism. But he did not. Instead, he returned to his All-Star best. Just with a beard this time.
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