Carlos Rodon impressively threw five no-hit innings on Monday
In his spring training start on March 18, Carlos Rodon pitched 5.2 no-hit innings against the Phillies and got the honor of being taken out of the game by the legend Joe Torre, who was the manager of the Yankees when they won the 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 World Series.
Torre made a surprise pitching change taking Rodon out. He has been in Yankees spring training recently and has been available to offer wisdom and answer any questions that the players have. It was a surprise since nobody would have expected him to make this change two days prior but it turn into a really highlight for fans how remember fondly those dynasty years in the lat 1990s.
The 83-year-old Torre, who was the Yankees manager from 1996 through 2007, has been back as a guest instructor for about five days. In the top of the fifth inning during the game at George M. Steinbrenner Field, current Yankees manager Aaron Boone had the Hall of Fame Yankees manager (Torre) go out to the mound to make the nostalgic pitching change. Boone hopes that he will be able to be the manager when the Yankees win a World Series like Torre was able to do four times.
It was just like old times since Torre did the similar point to the bullpen and did his distinctive walk to the mound (albeit a little slower than it used to be due to his age). Torre emerged from the dugout in full uniform including his jersey №6 that has been retired by the Yankees in his honor. The last Yankees spring training no hitter was in 2017.
Torre, who received a standing ovation from the crowd, took the ball from Rodon and shared a few words with the pitcher as the infielders gathered around the mound.
Ian Hamilton, who will be an important relief pitcher for the Yankees this season, replaced Rodon after Torre signaled to the bullpen to bring him in. Even though it was just a spring training game, it was significant that the Yankees were able to win this game since Torre was in uniform and came out to the mound to take out a pitcher.
When Torre talked to the infielders after taking out Rodon he reminisced on the many times he took Andy Pettitte out of the game after his many successful starts.
“I told them every time I went to the mound it always reminded me of Pettitte who used to burn a hole through me when I would come out to the mound to take him out,” Torre told the Michal Kay radio show. “On the way home he would stop in my office and apologize for showing me up.”
Torre said he initially did not want to go to the mound to take a pitcher out since it’s Boone’s team but when asked earlier that day by Boone he said he would like to especially since he was going back to New York the next day.
“I was unsure when I came here but I am certainly happy I did,” Torre said.
The last time Torre made the trip from the dugout to the mound for a Yankees pitching change was in 2007, when he replaced Jose Veras with Mariano Rivera in Game 4 of the American League Division Series. The Cleveland Indians would win this series over the Yankees 3–1. Joe Girardi would take over as the Yankees manager in 2008 until he was fired after the 2017 season.
Torre had a spectacular 12-year tenure as manager of the Bronx Bombers that was highlighted by winning back-to-back-to-back World Series in 1998, 1999 and 2000 (the Subway Series win over the Mets). Torre went 1,173–767 with the Yankees in the regular season. He become the second-winningest manager in franchise history behind Joe McCarthy (1,460–867).
He was known for his calm demeanor while being competitive and being a manager who could set the right direction for the team while knowing the right buttons to press.
Torre then spent three seasons as manager of the Dodgers after Girardi took over for him after the 2007 season. He finished his 29-year managerial career with 2,326 regular-season wins, which is fifth-most all time. Eleven of the top 14 managers in career wins are already in the Hall of Fame and the three who are not will be in soon when they are eligible as they have just recently retired (except for Bruce Bochy who came out of retirement to manage the Rangers this season) and those three are Dusty Baker, who is in 7th place, Bochy who is in 10th place and Terry Francona who is in 13th place.
Torre, who played in MLB for three teams from 1960 to 1977 and was an MVP winner (1971 with the Cardinals) and nine-time All-Star, spent a decade as MLB’s chief baseball officer before becoming a special assistant to commissioner Rob Manfred in 2020. Torre got to manage his hometown team for 12 seasons since he grew up in the Marine Park neighborhood of Brooklyn and went to high school at St. Francis Prep in Queens.
Torre followed in his older brother Frank’s footsteps when he signed with the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent in 1959 as Frank played for the Milwaukee Braves from 1956–1960 and then with the Phillies from 1962–1963. He played in seven seasons but Joe was able to play 18 seasons.
It is crucial for the Yankees that Rodon bounces back and pitches more like he did in 2021 and 2022 and not like he did during the 2023 season. His performance on Monday, against a few Phillies who will be on their team to begin the season, proves that he is on the right track and is ready for the season to start.
So far in spring training, Rodon has a 2.93 ERA in four games with a 0.72 WHIP, a .132 batting average against, 14 strikeouts in 15.1 innings, four walks and four homers allowed in his 15.1 innings. He needed this dominant performance against the Phillies since he had struggled a little before this game.
Especially with Cole’s injury where he will miss at least the first six weeks of the season, it is important that Rodon gets off to a very productive and reliable start to the season. If Rodon gives the Yankees a season like he had with the Giants in 2022 or like he had with the White Sox in 2021, when he had an under 3.00 ERA in each season, the Yankees will be in good shape.
In 2021, Rodon, who is 6'2", was an All-Star for the first time in his career (in his 7th MLB season) and finished 5th in Cy Young voting in the AL after having a great 2.37 ERA in 24 starts, one shutout, 185 strikeouts in 132.2 innings pitched, just 36 walks leading to 2.4 walks per nine innings, a career-high 185 ERA+, a 0 very good .957 WHIP and an impressive 2.65 FIP. In 2021, was an All-Star for a second consecutive season and finished sixth in Cy Young voting in the NL after having a very good 2.88 ERA in 31 starts, 237 strikeouts in 178 innings pitched, just 12 homers allowed, a very good 1.028 WHIP and he lead the league with his 2.25 FIP and 12 strikeouts per nine innings.
He was able to put it all together and fire on all cylinders in 2021 and 2022, which led him to get a six-year, $162 million contract from the Yankees. However, after missing the first three months of the season due to a muscle strain in his left forearm and then a back injury that delayed his recovery from the muscle strain, he had a not good 6.85 ERA in 14 starts, which included allowing eight earned runs without recording an out in his last start of the season on September 29. That start raised his ERA from 5.74 to 6.85.
A quality start is pitching 6.0 innings or more and allowing three runs or less and he was only able to do that three times in his 14 starts.
However, he did have a five-game stretch where he allowed two runs or less in four of five starts, which was promising. What took away from that momentum was that in his fourth start in that five game stretch he allowed seven runs on eight hits and a homer in just 3.2 innings. Allowing homers was a big issue for him last season since he allowed 15 homers in his 64.1 innings after allowing just 12 homers in his 178 innings in his previous season in 2022.
Rodon very much needs to improve the length of his starts in the 2024 season since in 2023 he lasted 5.0 innings or less in eight of his 14 starts. In his 20222 season, when he finished with a 2.88 ERA, he threw 6.0 innings or more in 17 of his 31 starts and 5.0 innings or more in 27 of his 31 starts. If he decreases his homers allowed that should in turn help him pitch longer in games and keep his pitch count lower.
It will be crucial that he cuts down on the amount of homers that he allowed as that will lead to him having more success. The injury that he had last season that did not allow him to make his season debut until July 7 was likely a factor in him struggling during many of his 14 starts. He was never really able to get into a groove last season
He should be able to and likely will be able to bounce back to pitch more like he did in the 2022 season to have an ERA in the low 3.00s.
Sometimes it can take a player a season to adjust to playing for the Yankees as well. Also, some pitchers flat out have not able to handle the pressure of pitching for the Yankees. It will be important for Rodon to get off to a strong and productive start to the season in April.
Rodon primarily relies on his fourseam fastball (94 mph average) and his slider (84 mph average) while also rarely mixing in a curveball and changeup. In Rodon’s first spring training game this year on February 25, he got off to a positive start as he struck out five in 2.2 innings against the Blue Jays and threw 48 pitches.
He is also still developing his cutter, which has recently been a new pitch for him. If that can be a pitch that he can really rely on along with his fourseam and slider, then he can be even more successful and increase his chance of dominating when both of those other two pitches are not on.
“It’s good to see there’s some swing and miss still in my arsenal, and just kind of build off that,” he said.
His fastball averaged at 93.6 mph and topped out at 95.9, which is very good for his first spring training game. He dedicated himself to getting in much better shape this offseason, which should be able to help him stay more consistent with his delivery this season, which is key. He needs to be executing his fourseam and slider to be dominant again.
On offense for the Yankees in this game that Rodon throw 5.2 no-hit innings, Oswaldo Cabrera, who will be a backup infielder and outfielder, hit a solo homer in the third inning and Alex Verdugo, who will be the Opening Day left fielder, hit a 2-run homer in the fourth inning. The Yankees scored their third and fourth runs on a throwing error in the fifth inning and a hit by pitch with the bases loaded in the sixth inning.
