Yankees Carlos Rodon Proves Worthy of Lofty Ranking With Strong Opening Day

New York Yankees veteran Carlos Rodon lived up to his lofty starting pitcher ranking with a strong Opening Day outing against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Mar 27, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodon (55) pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers during the third inning at Yankee Stadium. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The starting rotation for the New York Yankees was expected to be a strength for the team heading into the season.

Max Fried was signed in free agency to join Gerrit Cole atop the rotation as co-aces. Luis Gil had cemented himself as a rotation regular, winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 2024.

Clarke Schmidt was going to round the rotation out with veteran Carlos Rodon. Marcus Stroman, Will Warren and Chase Hampton were going to offer organizational depth.

Unfortunately, those plans went up in smoke very early in spring training as the injury bug hit the team incredibly hard.

Cole and Hampton both had to undergo Tommy John surgery, ending their 2025 campaigns before it began. Gil is sidelined for months dealing with a serious lat strain and Schmidt is joining him on the injured list to start the year.

That is going to put a lot of pressure on Rodon to step into a more prominent role than originally anticipated.

He is certainly capable and thought of highly by MLB insiders around the league. So much so, he was in a tie with Bryan Bello of the Boston Red Sox at No. 48 in the starting pitcher rankings put together over at The Athletic (subscription required).

“With Cole out, the Yankees need him more than ever. In a career of ups and downs, does he have one more big ride up?” one scout wondered,” as written in the piece created by Andy McCullough, Will Sammon and Sahadev Sharma.

His first year with New York was a disaster. He battled injury, making onl 14 starts and getting shelled to the tune of a 6.85 ERA, giving up 15 home runs in 64.1 innings with only 64 stirkeouts.

In 2024, he got back on track, scaling back the home runs allowed to 1.6 per nine from 2.1. His ERA was a more respectable 3.96 across 175 innings with 195 strikeouts.

The Yankees will need more of what he did in 2024 to get anywhere near their potential in 2025. If he regains the form that he showed in 2021 and 2022, it would be even better.

In his first chance of the year to step up, Rodon answered the call as the Opening Day starter against the Milwaukee Brewers.

He pitched 5.1 strong innings, allowing only four hits and issuing two walks. One earned run was scored against him via a Vinny Capra home run. Seven strikeouts were recorded as he looked like the ace the team needs him to be this year.

New York ended up winning the game 4-2, getting their season off on the right foot.