The New York Yankees went into 2025 facing a nightmare scenario.
Losing Gerrit Cole before the season even started left them scrambling for answers in the rotation.
They had to lean heavily on veterans like Carlos Carrasco and hope for big leaps from youngsters like Will Warren.
But the real X-factor was Carlos Rodon — and he’s finally delivering.
Rodon is heating up at the perfect time
Across 36 innings this season, Rodon has pieced together a strong 3.50 ERA.
His strikeout numbers are especially encouraging, with 11.25 K/9, a 71% left-on-base rate, and a 47.4% ground ball rate.
While the walks have crept up a bit, the bigger story is Rodon hasn’t given up an earned run over his last 13 innings pitched.
Across those two starts, he allowed just six hits, six walks, and racked up an impressive 17 strikeouts.
It’s like watching an old sports car that’s been sitting in the garage suddenly roar back to life, showing flashes of its former glory.
Rodon ranks in the 84th percentile in whiff rate and 88th percentile in strikeout rate, showing that he’s missing bats with regularity.
How Rodon’s pitch mix is fueling his resurgence
Rodon’s success isn’t just luck — it’s by design.
He’s revamped his pitch mix and added more deception into his arsenal.
Last year, Rodon threw his four-seam fastball almost 50% of the time.
This year, he’s dropped that number down to 38.6% and introduced a sinker at nearly 10% usage.
Opposing batters are hitting just .189 against his fastball with a .351 slugging rate.
Even better, his slider is as nasty as ever, holding hitters to a .122 batting average.
The new sinker is producing an absurd .083 batting average against, giving Rodon another weapon to keep hitters off balance.
By diversifying his pitch mix, he’s preventing batters from sitting dead red on the fastball — and it’s showing in the results.
Yankees’ $162 million investment finally paying off
After a rocky start to the season, Rodon has found his footing and is pitching like the ace the Yankees hoped they signed two years ago.
That six-year, $162 million deal looked dicey for a while, but Rodon is starting to flip the narrative.
With Cole still sidelined, Rodon stepping up is more than just a bonus — it’s a necessity if the Yankees want to contend.
Right now, he’s giving them a fighting chance every five days.