World Series 2024: Carlos Rodón falters, Dodgers bats feast on his fastball in another Yankees loss

LOS ANGELES – Carlos Rodón's evening lasted an hour. It was an hour he would like to forget.

The left-handed starter was given a big task, but one he enjoyed. Rodón's Yankees lost Game 1 of that Fall Classic in heartbreaking fashion to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history. It was a game New York should have won.

Rodón and the Yankees were certainly hoping the rugged hurler would deliver a gem in Game 2 that would tie the series and change the narrative. It was moments like this that convinced general manager Brian Cashman and owner Hal Steinbrenner to invest heavily in the southpaw in December 2022.

But in the first World Series start of his career, Rodón faltered. The Dodgers hit three home runs in the first innings, one each from Tommy Edman, Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman. Rodón exited the game in the fourth inning after recording just ten outs and giving up four earned runs. The Yankees lost 4-2 and were 0-2 in this best-of-seven.

Home runs were Rodón's bugbear all year long; only cutter Crawford allowed more this regular season. When Rodón is dishing out, the left-hander relies on a signature fastball that he can force past hitters. This pitch allows his devastating slider to make an impact. But when he's feeling bad, as was the case on Saturday, Rodón falls behind in the counts, making him incredibly predictable.

“Count Leverage” is just a fancy name for a simple concept: batters do much more damage when the hit is tilted in their favor. This dynamic is even more true for fastball-heavy pitchers like Rodón, who tend to rely even more on heat when in the count.

Case in point: The four biggest swings on Saturday night — the three home runs and a two-out single by Mookie Betts that led to blasts from Hernández and Freeman — all came with fastballs, with Rodón trailing in the count.

His fastball is special; it is not invincible.

Although Rodón's heater was particularly sharp in Game 2 – 1.2 mph above his season average – he was hit on three home runs. His inability to land his secondary offerings meant the Dodgers could count on a fair amount of fastballs. Rodón threw 60.3% of fours, his highest on-field effort since mid-April, and the Dodgers hitters were thrilled.

“I thought Rodon had good stuff,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the game. “When we look at the home runs there, we're talking about this Dodger team having really good leverage when they're ahead in the count. … They were just able to get it done in favorable counts.”

None of Saturday's game-changing throws were, in and of themselves, particularly heinous mistakes. It wasn't about Rodón throwing meatballs through the middle or hanging spinners in the zone. He hit his intended target on all three home runs allowed. Edman brought out his bat in front of a 2-0 fastball. Hernández hit a crazy swing on Rodón's toughest pitch of the night: a 98 mph fastball in the zone. Freeman, who provided the legendary moment in Game 1, pulled his hands into another elevated fastball for his second home run of this World Series.

In Rodón's first start of these playoffs, in Game 2 of the ALDS against Kansas City, he lost control of his emotions after giving up a home run to Salvador Perez. That didn't happen against the Dodgers either.

But Rodón's pitch mix was often criticized as too predictable; He threw a four-seamer or a slider 75% of the time this year. In spring training, Rodón and the Yankees' pitchers worked on a cutter, hoping to give the hurler a different fastball style to use when behind in the count. In Game 2 he only threw two cutters.

“They had a plan to conquer the fastballs,” Rodón admitted afterward. “I could have done better with a few off-speeds. … If I had shown some off-speed presence, I probably would have come off the heater.”

“But, you know, they did a good job of getting the fastballs up in the zone. They gave them some really good swings.”

Overall, it was a disappointing World Series debut for Rodón. The left-hander, who came to the Bronx after a sensational 2022 in which he finished sixth in the NL Cy Young voting, was expected to bolster the top of New York's rotation. This hasn't gone entirely according to plan so far. Sure, after that blunder against Kansas City, Rodón delivered two strong performances in the ALCS against Cleveland, but in the biggest start of his career, when his team needed his best, Rodón wasn't good enough.

“They want to go out there and put up a clean sheet,” he said. “This is hard. That’s the goal.”

Of course, the Yankees' loss in Game 2 doesn't rest entirely on Rodón's broad shoulders. New York's vaunted offense managed just one hit in the first eight innings before going on the attack at the last second in the ninth inning. Aaron Judge has a hit in six of his nine plate appearances in the series. Still, Rodón's performance against the Dodgers was substandard in every way.

Now any chance of redemption for the left-hander in this World Series must come here, in this unforgiving venue, in a potential Game 6. But Rodón's teammates have a big task ahead of them to even reach this point.

It's late in the Bronx and the World Series isn't even here yet.