Carlos Rodón deserves credit from Yankees fans after 2025 injury revelation

For a time, it looked like the New York Yankees had gotten duped. They committed $162 million over six years to Carlos Rodón, and the strength of 1 3/4 superb seasons from 2021 to 2022. They ignored the fact that over the six years prior, the veteran lefty owned a 4.14 ERA and 4.26 FIP while dealing with significant injuries.

Rodón's contract pays him $27 million a year. For that money, you're not wrong to expect a front-of-the-rotation starter. For the first two years of his deal, the Yankees had gotten anything but. His injury-plagued 2023 limited him greatly and led to a putrid 6.85 ERA. His 2024 campaign was significantly better, but a 3.96 ERA and 4.39 FIP were what you'd expect from a No. 3-4 starter, not a high-end No. 2.

Had Rodón lived up to his deal, the Yankees may not have gone out and signed Max Fried last offseason. Fans were fed up, looking at him as another in a long line of smaller-market imports who couldn't hack it in New York's rotation.

Then 2025 happened. With Gerrit Cole going down for the year in spring training, the struggling southpaw was going to be counted on to live up to his deal once again. It seemed as if we would be set up for disappointment. Instead, Rodón threw a career-high 195 1/3 innings, co-anchoring the rotation with Fried and posting a 3.09 ERA in the process. It only took half of the contract for him to give the Yankees what they were paying for.

Shortly after the season, Rodón went under the knife to deal with a bone spur and have loose bodies removed from his left elbow. It was mysterious. No one really knew anything was wrong.

Yankees fans should be looking at Carlos Rodón in a new light following his latest injury revelation

Randy Miller of NJ.com put together a fascinating report on how the injury affected the three-time All-Star throughout 2023. Rodón called the ailment a chronic thing that had been building for three or four years.

As the season progressed, the situation with his elbow became worse. The pain increased, and it limited what Rodón could do in his everyday life.

“I couldn’t really bend my arm,” Rodón said. “I couldn’t button a shirt.”

According to Miller, Rodón was told by the Yankees' medical team that he wasn't risking serious injury by pitching through the pain and that the situation could be resolved with a routine surgery. Rodón felt obligated to fight through for the Yankees because he thought he owed it to them for believing in him. He also felt he owed it to his teammates and felt a sense of responsibility to rise up in the face of Cole's absence.

The performance certainly changed many fans' opinions on the once-maligned hurler. These new revelations should improve his standing among the fan base even more.

We learned earlier this offseason that the injury forced Rodón to pitch differently, which directly led to his success. He reintroduced his long-dormant sinker and mixed his pitches differently, and that helped him get more ground balls and give up fewer home runs, all while keeping his strikeouts at an above-average rate.

If he keeps those changes once he returns from the IL early on in the regular season, we could see him carry over the success. We might even see him unlock another level, given that he will no longer be pitching in pain.

Say what you want about Carlos Rodón's first two seasons in the Bronx, but don't ever question his grit. If 2025 proved anything, it's that he's truly a bulldog, and the talent that earned him the fat contract still exists. Even brighter times should lie ahead.