New York Yankees’ Fans Should Not Panic Regarding Lefty Carlos Rodon

The New York Yankees have great hope for 30-year-old left-handed starter, Carlos Rodon.

When healthy, Rodon is one of the best pitchers in baseball.

The Yankees signed Rodon to a six-year, $162 million contract this past December.

The Yankees knew Rodon’s injury history when they signed him. The Yankees knew the risk they were taking with a lefty that made only 12 starts in 2017, 20 starts in 2018, seven starts in 2019, and only two starts in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He made just 41 starts from 2017 to 2020.

The Yankees also knew they were getting a lefty starter who made the American League All Star Team when he pitched for the Chicago White Sox in 2021, and was a National League All Star last year, when he pitched for the San Francisco Giants.

Yes, the Yankees were aware of the risk. And yes, the Yankees are well aware of the potential reward.

Now, as we reach the midway point of spring training, Rodon is shut down with what is being called a forearm strain. And yes, Rodon has felt that forearm strain before.

The Yankees are being cautious with their new starter. Properly so.

“I could go out there and perform, Rodon told reporters. “But am I performing at my best, and how long am I going to last throughout the season if I continue down this road?”

It also seems Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman does not feel Rodon’s forearm strain is serious.

A Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan showed Rodon had no Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) damage.

With a clean MRI, Yankees fans can probably breathe a little easier. However, it does provide a yellow caution light.

When deciding to sign Rodon, the Yankees were well aware that Rodon had Tommy John Surgery in 2019, and arthroscopic shoulder surgery in 2017. While with the Giants in 2021, Rodon had shoulder fatigue that did not cost him pitching time.

However, the shoulder, the elbow and the forearm each play a crucial role in the delivery of every pitch. They all must work together. If, in fact, fatigue sets in regarding any of those body parts, it could cause a ripple effect that impacts the mechanics of any or all of the shoulder, elbow or arm.

And that’s the concern with Rodon. Is the ligament in his elbow intact? Apparently, it is. Is his shoulder in pain? Apparently not.

That’s the good news. At this point, there is no requirement for Yankees fans to be talked off a cliff.

Quite simply, Rodon has a forearm strain.

Rest is required.

Rodon will rest his arm, and not pitch.

However, when it is deemed that Rodon can resume throwing without risk to the shoulder, the elbow or the forearm, he will have to begin his spring conditioning once again. He may have to start anew to build arm strength. He may have to “ease” in to throwing, being cautious in his approach to “ramping” up too quickly, or too aggressively.

While regaining his form, Rodon will not be pitching as part of the Yankees rotation to start the season. Rather, he will likely remain in the warm weather of Tampa, Florida, regaining his pitching strength and form.

Rodon is expected to return to the rotation in mid to late April. However, no time table is certain.

Rodon’s injury complicates a rather thin Yankees starting rotation.

Right-hander Frankie Montas is recovering from arthroscopic shoulder surgery he underwent in February.

Lefty Nestor Cortes sustained a right hamstring strain in mid-February. It was severe enough for Cortes to bow out of pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.

As of this date, Cortes has not appeared in a spring training game. He is expected to be fully ready for opening day.

Yankees Revised Rotation:

If the Yankees season were to start tomorrow, according to Fangraphs, their pitching rotation would include:

RHP Gerrit Cole-Age 32

RHP Luis Severino-Age 29

RHP Domingo German-Age 30

RHP-Clarke Schmidt-Age 27

LHP-Nestor Cortes-28

It certainly isn’t the same rotation without Rodon. Not even close.

There aren’t many options waiting in the wings for New York if Rodon does not recover properly, or if the condition gets worse.

Or what happens if Cortes has a flareup of his hamstring?

Or if one of the other pitchers gets injured or is ineffective?

The Yankees need additional seasoned starting pitching depth.

To this writer, the rotation above would have a very difficult time defeating an American League team like the Houston Astros, who to date, have a healthy rotation that includes:

LHP Framber Valdez-Age 29

RHP-Cristian Javier-Age 26

RHP Luis Garcia-Age 26

RHP Jose Urquidy-Age 27

RHP Hunter Brown-Age 24

Other Yankees Injuries:

Bullpen injuries have also surfaced for the Yankees.

Right-hander Tommy Kahnle, signed as a free agent to return to the Yankees, has been experiencing biceps tendinitis, and is sidelined.

Lou Trivino, who came to the Yankees from Oakland in a trade last year, is dealing with a strained elbow. He is not pitching now.

Compounding the setback to Rodon and the surgery for Montas as well as the reliever issues,, the Yankees are coping with the loss of centerfielder Harrison Bader to an oblique strain, which is a difficult injury to heal.

Bader’s injury puts both Oswaldo Cabrera and Aaron Hicks in the outfield, with Estevan Florial a likely outfielder to come off the bench.

Bader was looked upon as a tremendous defensive outfielder, capable of helping his pitching staff with Gold Glove type defense in the center of the Yankees outfield.

Depending upon how long Bader is sidelined, the loss of Bader could take his world class defense out of the Yankee’s early season equation. That would be another component to negatively impact Yankees pitching.

And, to complicate matters, first baseman Anthony Rizzo is dealing with an aching back, which flares up every now and again.

Summary:

New York Yankees newly acquired left-hander Carlos Rodon is dealing with a forearm strain.

While his MRI showed no ligament damage to his elbow, he is being shut down from pitching in this middle part of spring training.

Hopefully this forearm strain is just a minor setback.

With righty Frankie Montas already out after arthroscopic shoulder surgery, the Yankees rotation is short on depth and long on question marks.

The Yankees knew the risk involved in signing Rodon, who has missed pitching time in the past with elbow and shoulder injuries.

Now, the Yankees hope that rest will help Rodon return to form and enter the Yankees rotation before he misses too much of the 2023 season.