Carlos Rodón's meltdown vs Mets is exact fear every Yankees fans have with his play

Carlos Rodón's start on Saturday for the New York Yankees was a bad one, but it would've been far less nightmarish had Rodón not committed a mental gaffe in the third inning, when he decided to throw an errant ball home after a wild pitch, turning one run allowed into two within a matter of seconds.

One passed ball resulting in a run does not a terrible outing make, but Rodón compounded the mistake and transformed the situation into an atrocity by not holding onto the baseball once the first runner had crossed home.

That said ... all Rodón needed to do was concentrate on the batter in front of him. Mark Vientos is hitting .234 with a .698 OPS on the year. Just get the ball over the plate and ignore the fact that the bases are loaded. You had the 1-0 lead and were a couple of pitches from escaping the jam. This kind of a wild pitch in this scenario is borderline insane.

Carlos Rodón's mental collapse against Mets has Yankees fans worried

Following the game, Rodón owned up to the stupid play, admitting that he tried to make a superhero attempt and that the throw home was "one I gotta eat."

Rodón's never been one to dodge accountability; that's not the problem Yankees fans are afraid of with him. More so, what concerns Yankees Nation is Rodón's enduring tendency to completely unravel mentally in specific moments — turning one bad play or pitch into two — during otherwise solid starts. It's a habit that doesn't bode well for postseason baseball, where everything is pressurized.

But we can pack away this weird quality of Rodón's (until the next mid-game meltdown!) and focus for now on a more baseball-specific/pitching-themed problem for Rodón: command.

Since Rodón's returned from the IL, he's struggled to locate his pitches. Hopefully, it's just a rust thing. Rodón described his command as "wonky at the moment" after Saturday's game, with "at the moment" being the key phrase.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. offers an alternative take on Carlos Rodón's struggles

Rodón's teammate, Jazz Chisholm Jr., reminded reporters after Saturday's game that rust is a real thing. "He hasn't pitched in a big-league game in a couple months," Chisholm said of Rodón. "I would say it just takes some time and no panic."

Yankees manager Aaron Boone was similarly optimistic about Rodón with his postgame comments, while not shying away from the iffy command. "There's some really encouraging signs," Boone said. "We've got to dial in the command now."

Rodón himself refused to excuse himself for Saturday's performance on account of rust ("I'm not gonna give myself that leash").

Rodón is now 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA through his first two starts of 2026 (eight innings pitched). As everyone has acknowledged, the walks are the main issue. Rodón isn't getting raked or anything (.185 opponent batting average), but he's tallied almost as many walks (eight) as strikeouts (10).

He'll need some time to get back on track, which wasn't anything fans were in denial about. But when you rewind to his awful 2023 season that featured spiral after spiral, his 2024 postseason start against the Royals where he was "too amped", and other moments in between, that's where the worry sets in.

The good news for Rodón is that there's plenty of season left. He's used to carrying a full season's load of starts — 30-plus starts in three of the last four seasons. There's certainly something to what Chisholm is saying, alluding to a rust factor (even if Rodón isn't willing to use that get-out-of-jail-free card). If Rodón is still struggling with his command in a month, we can have a more serious conversation.

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