Prior to his start in Monday’s ALCS opener, Carlos Rodon revealed that he would be trying to take a page out of teammate Gerrit Cole’s book, and putting an emphasis on maintaining a more level display of emotion on the mound to keep himself from swaying too much in either direction.
In terms of demeanor and production, the Yankee lefty aced his own personal challenge.
Rodon was masterful in one of his best starts in pinstripes, allowing just one run over six innings while striking out nine, and keeping it cool after all nine of them. The result? A 5-2 Yankee win and a 1-0 series lead with Cole on the mound in game two.
In game two of the ALDS, Rodon was visibly amped up in his first inning of work against the Royals, yelling “It’s on boys!” and sticking his tongue out towards the Kansas City bench as he struck out the side in a dominant 11-pitch frame. But three innings later, a Salvador Perez solo home run seemed to quickly unravel Rodon’s night, as he went on to allow four runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings of work, looking like a shell of his first-inning self.
So, Rodon turned his attention to Cole, who he credited for keeping things calm and hyperfocused on the mound, and saving his primal displays of emotion for proper times. For Cole, that came after he recorded the final out of his brilliant outing against the Royals in the Bombers’ clinching game four, yelling in triumph as he forced an inning-ending flyout to keep the Yanks in front.
“The goal was to try and stay in control of what I can do physically and emotionally. I thought I executed that well tonight,” Rodon said.
“I had it under control most of the night…I just wanted to go about it the same way [as Cole], and I thought I did a good job of that tonight.”
Rodon kept to his objective with relative ease, maintaining an expressionless face after all nine of his strikeouts. The new version of Rodon certainly generated results, as he induced 25 swings and misses on the night, the most by a Yankee in the playoffs in the pitch tracking era (since 2008, via MLB.com’s Sarah Langs).
The night presented a valuable test for Rodon when Cleveland’s nine hitter, Brayan Rocchio, launched a no-doubt solo home run to left in the top of the sixth, nearly in the same spot that Perez’s ball landed in Rodon’s last start. This time, Rodon settled down and finished the inning without further trouble, and ending his night with his biggest display of emotion to that point, a simple extension of his glove hand towards center field as a show of gratitude for Aaron Judge chasing down a Jose Ramirez line drive to end the inning.
“I thought he was in complete command of himself and his emotions,” Aaron Boone said. “He was definitely amped up [in his ALDS start]. I think that potentially led to some fatigue or whatever…but man, I thought he held his stuff really well.
“I watched him out there with intensity, but a lot of poise.”
Rodon’s emotions have been a question among Yankee fans since last season, when he infamously blew a kiss to an angry Yankee fan in Anaheim during a rough start, and when he turned his back on pitching coach Matt Blake in another nightmare outing. This year, Rodon was healthy and much more productive than his debut season, and on Monday night, he may have found a solution to make him take the next step towards being the co-ace with Cole that the Yanks envisioned when they made a $162 million commitment.