Yankees’ $162M prized pitcher fails to record out in final outing of season

Carlos Rodón’s final start of the season was the period on a year to forget.

The New York Yankees’ prized signing who signed a six-year, $162 million contract in the offseason wrapped up his 14th start of the season getting chased off the mound without recording an out against the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

Rodón was tagged for eight runs on six hits. He walked two batters, and his ERA ballooned to 6.85. Yankees manager Aaron Boone had seen enough after Matt Duffy scored Nelson Velazquez. It was only 5-0 at that point, but three more runs were scored after Matt Bowman came in, and Rodón was charged for those runs.

Kansas City won the game 12-5.

Rodón’s outing underscored a really rough season for the pinstripe newcomer. He began the season on the injured list with a muscle strain in his left forearm. He then suffered a setback while rehabbing as he dealt with a back injury before he made his debut.

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He allowed two runs on four hits in his first start on July 7 but then had two straight bad outings allowing a total of 10 runs on eight hits. It was a bit downhill from there.

Going into his final start of the year against Kansas City, Rodón had 64 strikeouts. He allowed his 15th home run on Friday night, this one to Edward Olivares. He only had 12 in 31 starts for the San Francisco Giants last season.

Regardless of Rodón’s 2023 campaign, he will certainly be a mainstay in the rotation moving forward. New York will have to recalibrate a few others things going into next season.