The New York Yankees have announced their Opening Day starter, as manager Aaron Boone told the media Friday that left-hander Carlos Rodón will get the start on Opening Day at Yankee Stadium against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Carlos Rodón named Yankees Opening Day starting pitcher
Boone added that Max Fried will get the start in their second game of the season. The Yankees manager had previously said that Fried’s workload for Spring Training may not line up with an Opening Day start, hence why he is getting the ball in Game 2.
With Gerrit Cole out for the season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery and Luis Gil out for several months with a lat strain, the Yankees will be relying on their two lefties Rodón and Fried to get the job done in the rotation.
Clarke Schmidt, Marcus Stroman, and Will Warren figure to round out the rest of the rotation. New York could be in the market for starting pitching to replace Cole as the season progresses, but for right now they have their Opening Day plans set with Rodón taking the mound.
The Yankees need Rodón to be at his best this season
It has been a shaky first two seasons with the Yankees for Rodón. After injuries derailed his 2023 season, he was average at best last season with a 3.96 ERA and 195 strikeouts in 175 innings pitched.
He signed a six-year, $162 million contract with New York in 2022 to be a frontline starter next to Cole. His struggles saw him fall to being the No. 3 starter in the rotation last year behind Cole and Gil, but with both of them out, they need Rodón to return to the ace-level form that he was earlier in his career with the White Sox and Giants.
Opening Day is scheduled for Thursday, March 27 at 3:05 P.M. EST and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.