Carlos Rodón has not felt this way in years. And that is a good thing.
“It feels normal,” he said Sunday. “It feels like when I got here, that’s how it feels. It feels like it’s something new.”
Tormented by arm injuries in recent seasons, Rodón was hit with the big one last May, requiring Tommy John surgery that knocked him unconscious for over a year. It’s not how the No. 3 pick in the 2014 draft did things.
Click to download the MyTeams app for the latest White Sox news and analysis.
But if a month’s layoff from baseball due to the current COVID-19 pandemic had a silver lining for Rodón and the White Sox, it’s that the recovering pitcher believes that in March it will be a possible mid-season addition to a A pitching team that needs some depth can now be a full-season addition with the 2020 season reduced to a 60-game sprint in the postseason.
“I was lucky to have this little layoff. No one wants this pandemic to happen, but it gave me time to catch up,” said Rodón. “Obviously having arm problems as a pitcher is a pretty big problem. The best way to put it, I would say, is when there is a little hesitation between pitches, ‘Is this going to hurt? Is this going to hurt when I throw it away? ‘ That doesn’t exist anymore. Being able to pick up a ball and say, “Hey, I don’t feel anything. I can throw the ball like a child again. “
“Durability is a big part for pitchers or any player in this game, and luckily, hopefully, I’ve found it again.”
That will be the key for Rodón, not only being here, but demonstrating that he can stay healthy and demonstrate that he can turn the flashes of brilliance he has shown in his major league career into consistent performance. Rodon’s bouts with arm injuries made him a future ace into a big question mark for a rising White Sox team.
The White Sox appear positioned for long-term success with team-friendly contracts and recent free-agent firms that keep the vast majority of the team’s promising talent pool under control for years to come. Rodón does not fall into that category. He’s slated to hit the free-agent market after the 2021 season, which means he has little time to demonstrate that he deserves to outperform the other young pitchers on this White Sox team for a starring role in the rotation.
Rodón was the team’s opening day opener last season. But after Lucas Giolito’s All-Star campaign in 2019, the addition of a Cy Young winner in Dallas Keuchel, the flame-throwing potential of Michael Kopech and the young promise of Dylan Cease, Reynaldo López and Dane Dunning, even with this year’s first round draft. choosing Garrett Crochet to consider: how does Rodón fit in?
He hopes to show the White Sox exactly how this year.
“I feel like there are some things I need to try,” Rodon said. “The past few years haven’t turned out the way I wanted, obviously. It’s kind of unfortunate, injury and underperforming. In this 60 game season, I feel like it will do a lot for the guys. Not just me, but other guys around the league, or on this team, wherever, they can prove themselves in those 60 games, and I think it will do a lot. “
RELATED: José Abreu: White Sox Expectations Still High, But ‘It’s Up to Us’ to Meet Them
Of course, these unusual circumstances mean the pieces could fit in a very different way in 2020. Rick Renteria hasn’t revealed anything when it comes to how he’ll handle his pitching staff, and he’s likely going to need more time during “Summer Camp “to discover what roles each pitcher is capable of playing. But the boss left all options on the table last week, when he mentioned the possibilities of using openers, expanding the rotation, or “piggybacking” multiple starters in the same game. It would not be far-fetched to suppose that some beginners could find their way into the bullpen roles of any number of descriptions.
Rodón understands this. In fact, the numbers make it pretty obvious. Unless Renteria is planning an eight-man rotation, he will have to find different ways to use people like Rodón, Kopech, Dunning, Jimmy Lambert and Gio González, not to mention all of his relievers.
“This season is quite unique, obviously, with a 60 game schedule,” said Rodón. “I think a lot of us will have to fill different roles. Also, we have a surplus of weapons that we can use, and I think there are some creative ways that we could use them. I think we are all quite willing to take on any role that we can to help this team to win. We have an opportunity as much as anyone. “
That expanded pitching depth is a big reason why the White Sox seem able to compete alongside the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians for AL Central supremacy. At a minimum, it makes the July version of the White Sox look better than the March version.
While Rodon’s starting pitcher Keuchel chose to highlight the team’s renewed lineup on Saturday, Rodon likes what he sees from the arms. And that even includes the newest newcomer, a guy who’s not even in camp right now, but is looking to make a quick jump into the big leagues.
“Well, on paper, of course, let’s start there, we look pretty good,” said Rodón. “We have a surplus of weapons, a lot of young weapons that are tough. New left-hander (Crochet) who can throw out the garbage, obviously, as we know. I think a lot of people are excited to see I hope we can see him a little bit this year, see how it is launched.
“We have a lot of young weapons, man. A lot of young weapons that we need to develop, and I think hopefully they will have a chance to launch this year.”
RELATED: White Sox Trust MLB Protocol As Positive COVID-19 Evidence, Players’ Concerns Grow
But even with so many eddies around him, his health restored, proving he’s the pitcher he knows he can be, helping the White Sox make the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade, Rodón’s emotions have been pretty simple in these last days. . The boy who hasn’t pitched in a major league game in 14 months returned on Sunday to a major league mound, throwing live batting practice on the guaranteed rate field.
Home.
“The first day back, it’s a good feeling. It feels like home, right?” Rodón said. “You see stadium 90/94 and coming in, turning 35th. I was happy to walk on a field that is a real stadium rather than being in Arizona in the backfields. It is as if we are really playing Major League Baseball.”
“It’s a good feeling to step back on the mound today because it feels like home.”
SUBSCRIBE TO WHITE SOX TALK PODCAST FOR FREE.
