GLENDALE, Ariz. — Left-hander Carlos Rodon pitched like a staff ace for a good stretch last season.
And then he faded at the finish.
Fatigue?
Perhaps. But Rodon will not be an excuse maker.
“I’m never going to blame it on being tired or any of that stuff,” Rodon said, talking with media for the first time at White Sox camp Friday. “It was for lack of a better term two horseshi– starts. That’s pretty much it.
“I felt pretty strong. I just got my butt whooped.”
With a full offseason of rest going into his second season post-surgery, the hope is Rodon, 26, carries the endurance needed to be strong from late March through September.
Rodon said he enjoyed a good offseason. He and wife Ashley are expecting their first child this summer, so family life has never been better. And he felt like a normal pitcher for once.
“It felt like a normal year but it actually didn’t really feel like a normal year, because a normal year for me was going through an injury,” he said. “I had a great offseason. Got to be healthy and finally show up here healthy and have a healthy spring. So I’m excited.”
“Maybe with another year under his belt, or offseason and continuing to work, we get that [extra] gear back in full force,” pitcher coach Don Cooper said recently.
“He battles like a son of a gun. Carlos has is another gear. He has another gear which means when he gets in trouble, he can go from 91-92 [mph] to 96-97, he can go up to that. This is what I’m hoping for.”
As good as Rodon was during a nine-start stretch upon returning from shoulder surgery, his somewhat startling regression over his last six starts in September (9.22 ERA after a sub-2.00 ERA in July and August) gives pause, although not enough to threaten his place as the leading candidate to start opening day in Kansas City. He lasted two innings and 1 1/3 in his final two outings against the Cubs and Twins in 2018.
“They stuck a metal object in his shoulder for crying out loud when they did surgery [in Sept. 2007],” Cooper said. “We were just hoping that went well, the rehab went well, and hopefully he would be back with us. Well, he was back with us. That all went perfectly. I think just going through that was great, and what he did in a short period of time, I thought it was solid.
“He pitched some great games against the top clubs.”
For Rodon, the key to success is simple, Cooper says. Get ahead early in counts, “because he’s got a high-riding fastball he can use and he’s got the slider from hell. With a little bit more strength, maybe both of those pitches are even stronger.”
Rodon likes the Sox’ young rotation with Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito and veteran Ivan Nova he is being called on to lead. In year three of the team’s rebuild, he would expect progress throughout the roster.
“You have to understand we were a fairly young team last year,” he said. “What did we lose, 100 games? You can’t say it’s to be expected, but with the experience we have, it’s tough to contend.”
It was tough sledding for Rodon in September. But there were no excuses then and none during the first week of camp.
“He’s being accountable and responsible to everything,” manager Rick Renteria said after watching Rodon “look pretty good” while “working on some things” in his bullpen session.
“He worked very hard to come to camp feeling good and healthy,” Renteria said.
“We do look at coming back after being off, pushing, and so we’ll say it might have had a little fatigue factor to it at the end. Even if you are fatigued, I know in his mind he’s thinking ‘I can find ways of still getting it done.’ ”
