Rodón's 10 K's, 'lefty Jeter' acrobatics leave Yankees in awe

ANAHEIM -- Carlos Rodón pounced off the mound in the fourth inning on Tuesday, and as the burly southpaw moved in pursuit of Jo Adell’s slow chopper, his infield teammates calculated the likelihood of this play being made as somewhere in the neighborhood of a series-cancelling blizzard in Southern California.

“No chance,” DJ LeMahieu said he thought as he watched from his position as Rodón took his first steps off the mound. But Rodón moved more gracefully than anyone in the area code had a right to expect, flagging the ball with his outstretched glove before bounding in the air to fire a one-hop strike to Paul Goldschmidt at first base -- “Lefty Jeter,” Anthony Volpe had gushed.

If he’s making plays like that, then no wonder Rodón is finding new gears in his third season with the Yankees. Striking out 10 without a walk over another seven scoreless innings, Rodón guided his club to a 3-2 victory over the Angels, securing the Bombers’ seventh consecutive series victory and their 15th win in 19 contests.

"I just have a good understanding of what I want to do out there, and so do the catchers,” Rodón said. “Defensively, we’ve been great. Mostly, it’s just the confidence in what I’m doing out there. Offensively, we always show up and scratch some runs across. Today was a complete baseball game for us.”

Ben Rice and Oswald Peraza homered for the Yankees, who survived Devin Williams’ shaky outing in the ninth to pin the tying run on base. It marked Williams’ first save opportunity since April 25; on this night, the right-hander was filling in for Luke Weaver, who has been heavily taxed by appearing in five of the team’s previous seven games.

"At the end of the day, we won, and that’s all that matters,” Williams said.

That sounds a lot like what Rodón was saying, too. His reputation as a fastball-slider merchant is old news, keeping opponents guessing with curveballs, sinkers and changeups, and now he’s apparently even patrolling the infield like a Gold Glover -- “I’ll probably feel that tomorrow after the jump,” Rodón quipped.

Said LeMahieu: “I didn’t see that one coming, to be honest with you. He’s an athletic guy, though. That was pretty impressive.”

Where’s it coming from? It was here in Anaheim that Rodón endured one of the low moments of his pinstriped tenure, blowing a kiss to jeering fans behind the first-base dugout in a July 2023 outing -- just his third start for the club, his season debut having been delayed by injury.

It seemed an unsettling introduction, just months removed from an introductory press conference in the Bronx to celebrate a six-year, $162 million contract. The old-timers had seen stuff like this before; Rodón would not have been the first high-priced import to wilt in the New York spotlight, nor the last.

But that hasn’t happened -- far from it. Yankees manager Aaron Boone credits part of Rodón’s turnaround to “managing emotions on the mound,” and certainly the coaching and mental skills work that took place behind the scenes upgraded Rodón’s operating system.

More than that, he’s embraced the old-school snarl within his DNA, built upon deep innings counts and bushels of strikeouts. Put simply, Rodón digs deep and gives his club a chance to win almost every time he takes the ball.

That sweaty hug from catcher Austin Wells served as proof, once Rodón had gassed a 95.8 mph four-seamer past Chris Taylor on his 105th and final pitch of the night, a prelude to a receiving line of fist-bumps and high-fives in the dugout.

"I felt pretty convicted that he had at least one more hitter there,” said Boone, who stuck with Rodón even with the bullpen ready. “Great job executing there against Taylor to finish it off.”

Rice opened the scoring in the fourth inning with his 11th home run, hammering a Tyler Anderson changeup for a blast that rocketed 108.1 mph off his bat. Cody Bellinger reached on a three-base error charged to center fielder Matthew Lugo in the sixth, scoring on a Volpe single. Peraza provided cushion with his third homer, a solo shot in the seventh.

With Tuesday’s win, Rodón improved to 6-0 with a 1.27 ERA (7 ER / 49.2 IP) in his last eight starts, after going 1-3 with a 5.48 ERA in his first four outings of the year. In the dugout on Tuesday afternoon, Boone peered through tinted sunglasses and observed of his starter: “He’s pitching like an All-Star, plain and simple.”

That’s more than just a pregame sound bite; remember, as a pennant-winning manager from last season, Boone is responsible for filling out the American League’s lineup card for the 2025 exhibition at Atlanta’s Truist Park, making his an important voice Rodón may have in his corner when roster decisions are hashed out in about a month.

"That’s great, but I’m not here for individual accolades,” said Rodón, who was previously selected to Midsummer Classics in 2021 (with the White Sox) and 2022 (with the Giants). “I’m here to win as many ballgames as I can, and I think everyone in this room is the same way. If it happens, it happens, but the goal is to play the last game of the year.”