Key Player for New York Yankees Emerging As Reliable Member of Rotation

The New York Yankees have a reliable No. 2 starter emerging.

Apr 23, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodon (55) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees suffered a tough loss to the San Diego Padres, but in the loss, a key player continued to shine.

After a strong April, the Yankees have hit a tough stretch lately. They have lost four of their last five games, and their record is slipping closer to .500.

However, even though they have hit a bit of a snag, the team is still in first place in the American League East and there are encouraging things about the squad.

One of the biggest takeaways of late has been Carlos Rodon's performance.

The southpaw is arguably one of the most important players on the team because of the role he has been forced into due to injuries. With Gerrit Cole out for the year, New York needed a pitcher to step up and fill the void at the top end of the rotation, and the left-hander has delivered.

To begin the campaign, there were a lot of reasons to be concerned about the performance of Rodon. After a strong season debut, he allowed four or more earned runs in his next three starts.

Walking batters and giving up home runs were the main issues. In his first four starts of the season, he allowed five home runs and walked 12 batters. This is a recipe for disaster, and the start of the year was far from ideal.

However, the former All-Star has been excellent since then.

In his last four starts, all of them have been quality, and he has limited the damage in home runs and walks.

During that span, he has allowed just one home run and walked only eight batters. The strikeout numbers have been impressive throughout the campaign, but with high strikeout totals can come some wildness from the left-hander.

Now, through eight starts, he has totaled a 4-3 record, 2.96 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 48.2 innings pitched.

Moving forward, Rodon pitching at this level should result in a lot of success for the Yankees not only during the regular season, but in the playoffs as well.