With Gerrit Cole always an obvious lock to start Game 1 of the ALDS this Saturday, the Yankees announced that Carlos Rodón will take the ball in Game 2 on Monday at Yankee Stadium.
While Rodón always had a spot in the club’s ALDS rotation, Aaron Boone previously said the Yankees were weighing whether to have him start Game 2 or 3.
“He’s pitched really well, really the last 10-11 starts for us,” pitching coach Matt Blake said over Zoom on Wednesday. “So we felt good about him in any of the games. Obviously, Gerrit was going to go Game 1. There was some conversation around what makes sense for [Rodón], at home or on the road. Obviously getting him a second start, potentially Game 5, was interesting.”
With Game 3 taking place on the road — in either Baltimore or Kansas City — the Yankees opted for Rodón to pitch at home, where he enjoyed more success this season. The lefty recorded a 3.11 ERA over 14 starts at Yankee Stadium but a 4.69 mark over 18 road outings.
“It’s going to be really fun,” Rodón said of the postseason after his last start. “We start here in the Bronx; it’s gonna be electric.”
Overall, Rodón enjoyed a bounce-back second season in New York, posting a 3.96 ERA. He led the Yankees with 175 innings and a career-high 32 starts after three injuries limited him to just 14 starts in 2023.
As Blake noted, Rodón was mostly reliable down the stretch, tallying a 2.91 ERA over his last 12 starts.
“Performance-wise, obviously I’d like to be better,” said Rodón, who allowed four earned runs over 2.2 postseason innings with the White Sox earlier in his career. “Everyone wants to be better. But I went out there and competed and that was the main thing for me, just to make every start and go out there and compete every time I went out there.”
With the first two games of the ALDS set, Blake made it sound like the Yankees are taking a wait-and-see approach to who will start Game 3. That could change once the Bombers know who their opponent is, but they want to see how the first two games play out.
Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt are the candidates to start Game 3, but either could pitch in relief earlier in the series.
Schmidt, who recorded a rotation-leading 2.85 ERA over 16 starts, has been a reliever in the past. Blake noted that while adding that the righty could fill numerous roles.
“Clarke’s still up in the air for Game 3, amongst a few others,” Blake said. “But if he’s out of the pen for us in Game 1 or 2, I think it’s a Swiss Army Knife option for us that can pitch in a bunch of different situations. Obviously, he’s really developed his arsenal to pitch against lefties a little bit better than he has in the past.
“And he’s got a good mentality for coming out of the pen.”
Gil, on the other hand, has never been a reliever in the majors. His iffy command but high-octane arsenal may be better suited for a start, as the Yankees may be more comfortable giving him a quick hook than asking him to put out a fire.
Blake acknowledged that Gil’s lack of relief experience is “definitely a concern” as the Yankees weigh their Game 3 starting options.
“It’s something we haven’t done with him up to this point,” the coach continued. “So definitely some unknown involved with that, and that’s part of the conversation about why we might use Clarke and him in different roles. Obviously, we know Clarke’s done it in the past, so there’s some definite unknown with what Luis would look like in the pen. Obviously, some really high upside if it does click there. But obviously part of the conversation.”
Gil, a Rookie of the Year contender, finished the season with a 15-7 record, 3.50 ERA and 29 starts.