9-27-24 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X
Pirates head into the final series of the year taking on the Yankees and veteran southpaw, Carlos Rodón – who is having a bounce-back sophomore season in pinstripes after his lackluster first-year foray in New York.
Following a 6.85 ERA over 64.1 innings of an oft-injured 2023, Rodon has posted a 3.98 ERA over 169.2 frames this year, improving his K rate (22.4% to 26.6%) and dropping his walk rate (9.8% to 7.4%) in the process.
He is far from the Cy Young-type form of the 2021-22 seasons but certainly improved and dangerous for opposing hitters. He’s been especially electric down the stretch, posting a 1.93 ERA over 4 starts this month with a 29:6 K:BB ratio as he’s continued improving over the 2nd half of the season.
His pitch mix relies mostly on his mid-90s 4-seam fastball and high-80s slider – which he utilizes uniformly against both lefties and righties – but, against righties, he adds in his devastating mid-80s changeup running down and away with a curve in the low-80s dropping down and in against righty hitters.
His mix of pitches are headlined by the changeup, which gets a nearly 50% whiff rate with a .198 batting average against. On the other end, the looping curve can catch too much plate leading to the highest oBA 9; .290 while the fastball up in the zone has the highest average exit velocity (92.9 MPH) and highest xSLG (.569).
Biggest thing is for opposing righties to watch for the changeup. His extension is higher on average with the pitch and the spin rate is considerably lower than his other offerings so Bucs batters will need to watch seams and hold fast on the fastballs up or hanging curve down, while keeping an eye on the sliders which also gets some seriously strong whiff rates.
Facing the Yankees is never easy but pick pitches, pick spots and be ready for them when you get something to hit.
Let’s go Bucs!
Steel City Pirates 