Carlos Rodón is heading to the All-Star Game after all.
Many around the Bay Area and baseball at large questioned how the dominant Giants southpaw was left off the National League squad for this year’s Midsummer Classic when rosters were announced Sunday. On Tuesday, Rodón was named as a replacement for Milwaukee Brewers reliever Josh Hader, who wants to spend the break with his family.
Fellow Giants starter Logan Webb summed up how a lot of fans were feeling when he sent out this GIF.
It was only about 48 hours, but ‘finally,’ indeed.
MLB got this one right, as Rodón deserves to be recognized for his outstanding season. His wife aptly tweeted “WTF” upon her husband’s initial snub while noting he was leading MLB pitchers in WAR, according to FanGraphs.
Rodón has proven to be another great starting pitcher signing by Farhan Zaidi, as he inked a two-year, $44 million pact this past offseason.
Entering play Tuesday, Rodón ranked third in the NL in strikeouts (124), eighth in ERA (2.70) and 11th in WHIP (1.06). According to Baseball Savant, he ranks among the league leaders in expected ERA (89th percentile), strikeout percentage (89th %), chase rate (88 %) and fastball velocity (86th %) among others.
Rodón relies almost exclusively on a four-seam fastball/slider combo. His gas is arguably the best for any southpaw in the bigs and watching him dart around the zone is a pitcher’s delight.
Rodón will join fellow 2022 free agent signee Joc Pederson for the All-Star festivities.
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