Carlos Rodón managed both his emotions and the Cleveland Guardians’ hitters effectively.
In contrast to his previous game in the Division Series, Rodón excelled for six innings, leading the New York Yankees to a 5-2 win in the AL Championship Series opener, marking his first postseason victory.
“The goal was to just stay in control, stay in control of what I can do, obviously physically and emotionally,” Rodón said. “I thought I executed that well tonight.”
Rodón lost Game 2 of the Division Series against Kansas City when he admitted to throwing too hard. His fastball was 1.6 mph faster than his season average. Although he struck out the first three batters and allowed only two hits in the first three innings, he gave up a leadoff home run to Salvador Perez, leading to a four-run fourth inning in a 4-2 loss.
This result left Rodón with an 0-2 record and an 11.37 ERA in three postseason games, including two starts. He observed Gerrit Cole during the Yankees’ clinching 3-1 win in Game 4 and tried to mimic Cole’s calm demeanor.
“There’s runners on and he gets out of a jam,” Rodón said. “It’s pretty even keel walking off the mound. There’s no screaming. There’s no fist pumping or anything. He’s just, like I said, like a robot.”
Cole appreciated Rodón’s focus, noting how he pitched well alongside him.
“I think it’s just one of those things, as players we’re constantly adjusting to the experiences that we have,” Cole said. “Sometimes you can’t predict everything and when something doesn’t go your way, you’re challenged to adjust. I think he did a great job.”
Rodón struck out nine batters and didn’t walk anyone, achieving 25 misses on 53 swings, the highest for the Yankees in a postseason game since pitch-tracking began in 2008. His pitches were so effective that catcher Austin Wells had to throw to first base three times on strikeouts for the outs.
“We talked about how would he take the experience of the first time out, and I felt like he totally applied all of that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I thought he was just in complete command of himself and of his emotions.”
Rodón held the Guardians to two singles before Brayan Rocchio hit a home run in the sixth inning.
“He was very aware of what happened in the last outing and how his emotions got away from him early,” pitching coach Matt Blake said. “Each inning you could tell he was trying to stay steady and be neutral about it and just keep collecting outs.”
Boone described Rodón’s new mindset as bringing calmness to his intensity.
“It’s not that it’s hard,” Rodón said. “It’s just being mindful of it and being focused on the next pitch, and I think that kind of leads to that robot — that poker face.”
