Resurgent New York Yankees Starter Still Faces Pressure After New Signing

Pitchers and catchers are set to report for the New York Yankees next week and there are a lot of reasons to be excited about what the starting rotation is going to look like.

Coming into the offseason, the rotation was a bit of a question mark for the Yankees. Star pitcher Gerrit Cole had an opt-out clause in his contract, but luckily after the two sides seemingly played chicken a bit, the ace of the staff will be returning and potentially finishing his career with New York.

After handling their business with their ace, the Yankees then made a major splash in free agency by signing Max Fried to a long-term deal. Fried is a multiple-time All-Star and would be the best pitcher on several teams in the league.

With a new one-two punch at the top of the rotation, that does slide down another pitcher that New York is paying a lot of money to.

Brendan Kuty of The Athletic recently wrote about what the pitching staff would look like for the Yankees. For Carlos Rodón, the pressure might be on.

“Rodón, a 32-year-old lefty, bounced back with a 16-9 record and a 3.96 ERA in 32 starts last year. Will he see the addition of Fried as a challenge?" he wrote.

The talented southpaw was a big signing for New York a couple of winters ago after an All-Star season with the San Francisco Giants. When the Yankees landed Rodón, the hope was that he was going to be the sidekick to Cole.

However, he pitched poorly in his first season with New York, totaling a 6.85 ERA. Luckily for the Yankees, he looked a bit more like himself in 2024, totaling a 3.96 ERA with 16 wins.

While it was a much better campaign in 2024, an ERA of just under 4.00 doesn’t scream great, and that’s what the Yankees are paying him to be.

With the addition of Fried, it can either put more pressure on Rondo to perform, or potentially less. Moving into the middle of the starting rotation logically feels like the pressure would come off.

Especially come playoff time, the southpaw either being a third or fourth starter depending on the development of Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil is a great thing to have for New York.

Even though the 32-year-old hasn’t lived up to the expectations of his contract yet with the Yankees, he still can pitch well for him for the next few years.

 However, it will be imperative for him to win his matchups in the postseason if he is going to be going against potentially third or fourth starters from opposing teams.

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