Carlos Rodon is trying to put his disastrous debut season with the Yankees in the rearview by arriving to camp early, and even shaving off the mustache he sported during the injury-riddled 2023 campaign that saw him struggle badly when he was actually healthy.
But the $162 million lefty is still just two years removed from an All-Star season where he was one of the most dominant pitchers in the game, and C-Mac says that makes him the most important Yankee in 2024.
“I think we all understand Carlos Rodon is numero uno,” C-Mac said. “I don’t think there is any debate that he is the most important Yankee by a mile. If he reverts back to what he was for the last two years before last year, and becomes a legitimate number two behind Gerrit Cole…then I don’t feel so bad about not getting Snell or Yamamoto or not trading for Burnes…he fills that role.”
If Rodon is a disaster again and flirts around a 7.00 ERA, C-Mac doesn’t see the Yankees having much of a chance in a playoff series. But if he is the pitcher he was in 2021 and 2022, then the Yanks would have a two-headed monster atop the rotation that would make them a very tough out in a five or seven-game series.
“He is by far the most important Yankee this upcoming season,” C-Mac said. “There’s no doubt in my mind.”
