Yankees' official Carlos Rodón roster move ushers in new stage of their season

The "Run-It-Back" New York Yankees started off the campaign so well that it was easy to forget they were actually attempting to overcome an early blow. The rotation has been their greatest strength, which is somewhat ridiculous, considering Gerrit Cole's long road back and the Carlos Rodón surgery bomb that upended their offseason.

Despite a horrid ending to their first 40 games that featured Buck Martinez's favorite elements of the 2025 Yankees, they passed the overall test with flying colors, riding a Will Warren breakout and the Ryan Weathers leap they'd hoped for to a 26-14 record in an American League that's there for the taking.

On Sunday, they officially enter the second stage of their season.

Rodón is back, replacing reliever Kervin Castro on the active roster. Gerrit Cole, making an additional rehab start on Sunday, has two or three more outings left before he, too, is activated. The Yankees, decidedly un-whole through the first 1.5 months of the season, are getting closer to their intended form.

What Yankees fans can expect from Carlos Rodón's return against Brewers

Given the way this rotation has held their own and the Yankees have persevered, turning tight ballgames into repetitive (and fun!) blowouts, it's difficult to fathom that both Max Fried (bad start) and Cam Schlittler (bullpen let him down) lost games to begin this series. The Yankees are suddenly relying on Rodón not only to level up their ceiling, but to salvage a lone victory in a nightmare series.

Rodón's worst performance of his rehab came in his final outing with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against the dreaded WooSox, but he by and large did look like himself, landing several nasty sliders and whiffing 16 and walking three in 16 minor-league innings. He allowed a trio of home runs, but that comes with the territory - the most pitches over the plate, the more balls put in play, the more up-downs a starter can get.

Expect a version of Rodón that looks nearly normal, but not quite all the way back. Hopefully, he channels his 2024 outing in Milwaukee, where he went six strong frames in a blowout 15-3 victory.

Regardless of where he lands, the Yankees have officially survived an interstitial period of waiting for their rotation to be whole, and they've done so with flying colors (again, despite the worst possible final game of the stretch on Saturday night).

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