When the New York Yankees signed Carlos Rodon to a six-year, $162 million deal, they were hoping that he was going to be the ideal No. 2 behind Gerrit Cole. If the 2023 season proved anything for the Yankees, it was that Rodon has to be better.
Simply put, he had a very disappointing year.
However, context needs to be added around his struggles. The most obvious reason for his poor performance was injuries.
If Rodon enters the 2024 season with more health issues, the season won't go as planned for New York.
Rodon had such a bad year the Yankees have been attempting to sign multiple high-level arms this offseason. While they might've been in the mix for starting pitching even if Rodon had the best season of his career, his 2023 performance has something to do with New York's current outlook.
The club added Marcus Stroman and he'll likely have a chance to earn the No. 2 spot in the rotation.
However, there's a world where Rodon gets back to the ace-caliber pitcher that he was before signing this deal.
MLB.com's Thomas Harrigan listed the lefty as a potential rebound candidate for the 2023 season.
"Despite the addition of Stroman, the Yankees need Rodon to be the No. 2 starter they thought they were getting when they signed him on the heels of a spectacular two-year stretch (2.67 ERA, 12.2 K/9) with the White Sox and Giants."
The bigger concern for Rodon is that his advanced numbers were some of the worst in baseball. He posted an xERA, K%, BB%, Barrel%, GB%, and an xBA below the 45th percentile, according to Baseball Savant. His below-25th percentile pitching run value, fastball run value, and breaking run value were certainly an issue, too.
Perhaps it was just a bad season for the left-hander and he bounces back this year.
That's the hope for the Yankees as they look to win their first World Series since 2009.
More must-reads: