As all eyes were on Juan Soto throughout Friday’s 6-2 win by the Yankees, it was Carlos Rodón who did what he could to keep the Mets in check.
And Rodón did just that, even if it wasn’t all that pretty.
The lefty didn’t have his best command, as he matched a season high with four walks, but three of those were to Soto.
“I was trying to make him miss with every swing,” Rodón explained when discussing his strategy against his former teammate. “But as usual, he showed great patience. He’s familiar with the strike zone and walked away with three walks. I wanted to beat him, but he ended up getting the better of me.”
Despite that, Rodón pitched well enough to limit the Mets to one run and put the Yankees in position to get a win in The Bronx.
During his time with the Yankees, there were occasions when Rodón might not have performed as effectively as he did on that Friday night — an area he has improved in since his move to The Bronx.
“There are days when you need to work out how to get outs even if everything isn’t working perfectly,” Rodón stated. “Today was one of those days. You have to go out there and compete. It’s part of the job.”
Rodón didn’t allow a hit until Mark Vientos’ flare single to center with one out in the fourth, when he also allowed his lone run over five innings.
The 33-pitch inning included a leadoff walk to Soto, although Rodón challenged him both in the fourth and fifth inning.
He finished the frame by getting Luisangel Acuña to fly out to right with the bases loaded.
For Rodón, it was an encouraging outing after he allowed four runs in six innings in a loss to the A’s in his previous start.
After compiling an ERA of 5.48 in his first four outings of the season, Rodón has a 1.72 ERA in his last six starts.
And in allowing just a pair of singles on Friday, Rodón has remained one of the toughest pitchers to actually get a hit against.
He’s limited opposing lineups to four hits or fewer nine times this season, the most in the majors.
But the walks he issued forced Rodón to throw 102 pitches in just five innings, which was his shortest start of the season.
He got out of the fifth by whiffing Pete Alonso, which Aaron Boone said likely would have been his last batter, even if he’d reached.
The next challenge for Rodón is avoiding the mid-season swoon he suffered from mid-June to mid-July last season, when he followed a 2.93 ERA in his first 14 starts of the season with a 9.67 mark in his next six.
Rodón eventually settled down and was solid for much of the second half.
