Hard Karl goes soft

Rodón fashions a fine outing, and spends his session flipping feist for fun

Here's how you can tell Carlos Rodón was pretty happy with how his day — the first competitive game play, of sorts, he's had in 14 months — went really well: He was willing to take the piss out of himself a bit.

• "It's good to be back out there. Some guys are seeing he ball real well, as you could tell."

• "I was a little in awe that [Robert] got to that one."

• "The first time vs. hitters in Arizona [in spring training], I felt good and sore the next day, and thought, 'OK, I can do this still.'"

All in all, Rodón was sharp and should have felt mighty fine about his effort, which included an only-in-Summer-Camp 1-2-3-4-5 perfect inning. Better, the guy who would not have been ready to step into the rotation back in March is on track to fill a rotation spot now.

"I need to get up and down a couple more times, get to 90 pitches," Rodón says. "I would like to hit that before the season starts."

The question becomes — one bench coach Joe McEwing demurred on in these early stages in the media session prior — is there a spot in the rotation for Rodón?

"I just want to be one of the starting five or six," Rodón says. "That’s a decision they have to make. I can fill any role ... my goal was to be ready for a starting spot, but they have a decision to make, and we all want to make it a hard decision."

For Rodón's full media session today, watch below, courtesy of the White Sox: