Why Carlos Rodon Is Important

For a while there, Carlos Rodón looked like a guy trying to assemble a complicated piece of IKEA furniture without the instructions. Lots of parts, plenty of effort… but something clearly wasn’t clicking.

When the New York Yankees signed Rodón before the 2023 season, the expectation was simple: this was supposed to be the guy who shoved. The fiery lefty who dominated with the Chicago White Sox and later the San Francisco Giants was supposed to slide into the Bronx and become a frontline monster.

Instead, his first season in pinstripes felt like watching a sports car stuck in traffic.  Rodón’s early Yankees tenure was defined by injuries, inconsistency, and plenty of frustration. The velocity wasn’t always there, the command wandered, and the results often looked nothing like the pitcher the Yankees thought they were getting.

Fans who expected dominance got turbulence instead. And in New York, turbulence doesn’t stay quiet for long.

But to Rodón’s credit, he didn’t completely fold. By last season, he began to show signs that he was finally figuring things out. The fastball had more life, the slider started biting again, and the confidence that once made him one of the more intimidating lefties in baseball slowly returned.

It wasn’t a full resurrection, but it was progress. Just when things started to stabilize, however, Rodón ran into another speed bump. During the offseason, Rodón underwent surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow — never exactly the phrase a fanbase wants to hear when discussing a starting pitcher.

The procedure forced him to hit pause again.

Fortunately for the Yankees, the recovery appears to be moving in the right direction.

After another bullpen session on Saturday, Rodón received some encouraging news: he’s expected to face live hitters next week for the first time since the surgery.

That’s a meaningful step forward. Rodón has said the elbow feels good and his range of motion has improved considerably, but there’s still some rust to shake off. He admitted he’s still “trying to figure out how everything moves again and just find the pitch shapes.” Translation: the arm works — now he just needs to make the baseball behave again. Here’s the reality for the Yankees.

If Rodón is right, he can still be really good. Not “serviceable.” Not “fifth starter who eats innings.”

Good. We’ve seen the version of Rodón who overpowers hitters and racks up strikeouts in bunches. That guy is still in there somewhere, and if he shows up in the Bronx this season, the Yankees rotation suddenly looks a lot more respectable.

But if he doesn’t?

That’s where things start getting uncomfortable. Right now, the Yankees rotation has one thing going for it: Max Fried at the top. Cole? Not back yet.

Behind him? It gets shaky in a hurry.

There’s a lot of talk about depth, internal options, and young arms waiting for their shot. But depth on paper and depth on the mound are two very different things.

For example, the Yankees are not simply handing a rotation spot to Carlos Lagrange. Prospect hype is great for spring conversations and spring training headlines, but it doesn’t guarantee big-league readiness, especially if you’re on the Yankees. Most likely they will keep you in the minors and waste you. Then there’s the growing drumbeat around Will Warren, who the organization keeps promoting as the next promising arm ready to help stabilize the staff.

Maybe he will be.

But right now? That remains more projection than proof. Which brings us right back to Rodón.  For all the hype about prospects and depth charts, the Yankees’ rotation might ultimately hinge on whether Rodón can stay healthy and pitch like the guy they thought they were signing.

Because if he does, the Yankees have a legitimate weapon.

If he doesn’t… well, suddenly that rotation starts looking a lot thinner than anyone in the front office would like to admit.

And in a division where every win matters, thin rotations have a nasty habit of turning October dreams into September autopsies.