Yankees Veteran Starting Pitcher Falling Woefully Short of Expectations

A New York Yankees veteran starting pitcher is not providing the team with the kind of production they need.

Apr 2, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodon (55) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Yankee Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The starting rotation was expected to be a strength for the New York Yankees during the 2025 MLB regular season, but things have not gone well thus far.

Injuries have played a big part in the effectiveness.

Ace Gerrit Cole is sidelined for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery during spring training. Reigning American League Rookie of the Year Luis Gil is dealing with a lat strain. Clarke Schmidt is making his debut later this week after battling rotator cuff tendinitis.

Their absences have pushed some players into larger-than-anticipated roles behind free agent signing Max Fried.

He has performed like the ace the team knew he could be, but others have fallen woefully short of expectations.

Not many people had confidence in Carlos Carrasco and Marcus Stroman getting the job done, joining the rotation out of necessity with the injuries. But the performance of Carlos Rodon has been incredibly disappointing.

Signed to a six-year, $162 million deal ahead of the 2023 campaign, there were major expectations on him.

He has the talent to be an ace; in two seasons before signing with the Yankees, he had a combined 10.3 WAR with the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants.

Rodon recorded a 2.67 ERA across 310.2 innings with 422 strikeouts. He finished top six in the Cy Young Award voting both years and led the MLB with a 2.25 FIP and 12.0 K/9 during the 2022 season.

The large contract, based on that body of work, was warranted, but he hasn’t come close to replicating that level of success in New York.

As shared on X, Rodon has made $56 million thus far with the Yankees. His production has provided a value of only $13 million, and he still has four years remaining on his contract.

Even the most optimistic of New York fans can’t be looking forward to that, given his struggles with the team to this point.

Through four starts in 2024, Rodon has surrendered the most earned runs and home runs in baseball with 14 and five. His 12 walks are the most issued in the AL.

He has looked dominant for stretches but has failed to put things together for an entire start.

Unfortunately, this has been the case throughout his Yankees tenure, and he has suffered from a lot of self-inflicted wounds.

As shared by Katie Sharp on X, since the start of the 2024 campaign, Rodon has made 36 starts. Over that span, he has given up 36 home runs, issued 69 walks and hit 10 batters.

A.J. Burnett in 2010-11 was the last New York pitcher to reach those numbers in a 36-game span.

Since the start of last year, Carlos Rodon has pitched 36 games regular season:
36 HR
69 walks
10 hit batters

The last Yankee to reach each of those stats in any 36-game span was A.J. Burnett (2010-11)

— Katie Sharp (@SharpStats17) April 14, 2025

The Yankees are not getting the kind of return on investment they had hoped for, which is putting them in a real bind financially and on the field.