With the American League Division Series kicking off on Saturday, the New York Yankees have announced their Game 2 starter for the series. Carlos Rodon (16-9, 3.96 ERA) has been named as the second starter to go for the first round of the postseason, as after a strong second half he has become one of the Yankees’ more reliable starters. He completed 32 starts this season, the most he’s ever recorded in a Major League year, and he’ll pitch in the postseason for the third time in his career.
After a terrible debut season in the Bronx, the Yankees are turning to Carlos Rodon to follow up the reigning AL Cy Young Winner in Game 2, a well-deserved honor.
Carlos Rodon Named Game 2 Starter For the Yankees’ First-Round Matchup
This was an up-and-down year for Carlos Rodon, but the left-hander hit his stride in the second-half as he posted a 2.91 ERA and struck out 83 batters in 12 starts. His changeup became a serious weapon for him, missing more bats than he had in the first-half while limiting the home-run damage to situations where no one was on-base.
For the Yankees, they’ll be able to throw a hard-throwing left-hander as their follow-up for Gerrit Cole, who a lock to start the first game of the ALDS as long as he remains healthy. A better distribution of secondary pitches coupled with some better in-zone command led to an excellent summer for the left-hander, and he’ll look to become a beloved figure in New York with a strong postseason performance.
While the Yankees don’t know who they’ll face, Carlos Rodon has some experience against both Kansas City and Baltimore this year.
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In two starts against the Royals this season, Rodon has a 2.08 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 13 innings, both pitching deep into games while having strong performances. You could argue his ERA against them should be even better given the defensive miscues behind him in that second start, as one run scored on a dropped flyball that 100% should have been caught.
When it comes to Baltimore, they’ve had far more success against the $162 million lefty, as he hasn’t made it past the fourth inning against them with a 9.00 ERA and four home runs allowed in eight innings. His two performances against them came before the All-Star Break, so perhaps this time he can get the job done against an AL East rival.
The Royals (84) have the fifth-worst wRC+ against left-handed pitchers and have a 16-21 record against left-handed pitchers, whereas the Orioles have a 115 wRC+ which is the sixth-best mark in baseball. Baltimore also went 23-20 against LHPs, so from a matchup standpoint there may be an advantage against Kansas City. That being said, anyone can beat anyone in baseball, so that doesn’t matter too much.
Game 1 begins on Saturday with Game 2 on Monday, both of which will be played at Yankee Stadium where the Yankees hope to get off to a 2-0 start.