Yankees Receive Promising Sign From All-Star Starter Amid Gerrit Cole News

This is a very good sign for the New York Yankees, who are trying to get their All-Star starter back on track with Gerrit Cole set to miss time.

A strong outing from Carlos Rodon is exactly what the New York Yankees needed to mitigate injury news surrounding ace Gerrit Cole on Wednesday.

Despite a 9-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox at George M. Steinbrenner Field, Rodon bounced back after a questionable start against the Tampa Bay Rays last Wednesday. Rodon, who struck out three Red Sox batters and didn’t surrender a walk, gave up a one-out solo home run to Triston Casas in the fourth inning, the only hit he allowed across four innings for the Yankees.

More importantly, Rodon’s velocity was up in comparison to his previous spring training start. Rodon’s fastball consistently reached 95 mph on 68 pitches, an improvement after his velocity slightly dipped versus Tampa Bay. 

In that 4-3 loss to the Rays, Rodon allowed five hits, three earned runs on two homers, one walk and one strikeout in three-plus innings. He threw his four-seam fastball on 66% of his total pitches vs. Boston.

Carlos Rodón tjStuff+ from today

Rodón saw an uptick in his velocity today compared to his previous spring starts, and his 4-Seam grade improved greatly as he threw it 66% of the time today. pic.twitter.com/AdXtWI8Wef

— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) March 13, 2024

The 31-year old left-hander, who the Yankees signed to a six-year, $162 million contract before the 2023 season, is expected to enter 2024 healthier after sustaining a forearm muscle strain last March and experiencing back-related issues later in the year.

Rodon will be relied upon right out of the gate following the news that the organization received on Cole.

Cole, the 2023 American League Cy Young Award winner who turns 34 in September, will be shut down and is reportedly expected to miss 1-2 months following an MRI, CT scans and X-rays on his right elbow. He is set to meet with specialist Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles, who will give the final consensus once he takes a look at Cole's elbow, but the Yankees are hoping they avoided disaster. There is no available timetable on Cole's return according to Yankees manager Aaron Boone. So the Yankees are going to need to bank on Rodon returning to All-Star form, and his most recent outing in Grapefruit League play was promising to say the least.