When Gerrit Cole was ruled out to begin the 2025 season, the Yankees‘ rotation suddenly felt like a Jenga tower missing its base.
They needed stability. They needed someone to keep the structure upright.
Enter Max Fried—whose $200+ million signing already looks like a steal—and now, finally, Carlos Rodon is holding up his end of the deal too.
Rodon delivers against the Mets in signature outing
In a tightly contested Subway Series matchup Friday night, Carlos Rodon stepped up once again.
He went five innings, allowed just one earned run, and struck out five against a dangerous Mets lineup.
The Yankees were clearly strategic, pitching around Juan Soto, who reached base three times, and taking calculated risks elsewhere.
The plan worked.
Rodon issued four walks, which wasn’t ideal, but the Yankees limited the damage to just two runs total.
For a team navigating injuries and needing every arm to pull its weight, this was a huge win in execution.
Key adjustments breathing life into Rodon’s arsenal
What’s helped spark Rodon’s turnaround is a tweak to his pitch mix.
He’s throwing his fastball just 41.4% of the time—its lowest usage rate since 2016.
The velocity is down slightly, but the impact has gone up.
Opposing batters are hitting just .226 off the four-seamer, and the Yankees have introduced a sinker to his repertoire.
It’s already proving valuable.
Rodon’s sinker is generating a measly .125 batting average, helping him induce more ground balls and stay efficient against contact-heavy lineups.
He’s also leaned more on his change-up, creating better separation from his primary pitches and adding deception.
It’s all part of a larger effort to give hitters more looks and force uncomfortable swings.
Elite whiff rate and strikeout ability are still intact
Despite throwing fewer fastballs, Rodon hasn’t lost his ability to dominate hitters.
He currently ranks in the 90th percentile in strikeout rate and 86th percentile in whiff rate.
Those numbers mean he’s not just getting outs—he’s doing it without relying on contact, which limits variance and strengthens his consistency.
Over 59.2 innings, he’s tallied 72 strikeouts and holds a 3.17 ERA.
That ERA drops to 2.55 in May, a sign that Rodon is getting better as the year goes on.
Stepping up at the perfect time
With Cole still out and other arms like Clarke Schmidt dealing with minor setbacks, Rodon’s emergence couldn’t be better timed.
Max Fried has been dominant with a 1.11 ERA, but no rotation succeeds with just one consistent arm.
Rodon becoming a legitimate No. 2 transforms the Yankees from injury-plagued to resilient.
He’s giving them exactly what they hoped for when they signed him.
Popular Reading
Just like that the Yankees’ Juan Soto replacement is back from the grave