Chicago White Sox: Why is Carlos Rodon having so much success?

Carlos Rodon, 28, has a historic pitching season for the Chicago White Sox already this season but his potential CY Young season could have been a fairytale if he was left in Schaumburg.

This season, Rodon has started in 11 games for the White Sox. He recorded 97 strikeouts, 17 walks, 14 earned runs, 39 hits allowed in 66.2 innings pitched this season. That accumulates to an impressive 1.89 earned run average at the moment.

His opponents at the plate this season are hitting a .166 batting average and a .236 on-base percentage. Not to mention, he has thrown one of the six no-hitters in the MLB this season.

It’s easy for White Sox fans to forget the long journey Rodon has taken to get where he is today as one of the Sox go-to guys in the starting lineup.

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Rodon was drafted third overall in the 2014 MLB draft by the White Sox out of North Carolina State University. Rodon recorded a 2.19 ERA over 50 games played with NC State University. In the majors, Rodon never recorded a winning record past his rookie season in 2015 until 2019. He also never recorded an ERA under 4.00 since 2015 (until this season).

From 2017 until this season, Rodon battled plenty of injuries too. 

Lamond Pope of the Chicago Tribune summarized it best by saying, “Rodon was limited to 12 starts in 2017 because of left biceps bursitis and left shoulder inflammation. After having offseason shoulder surgery, he made 20 starts in 2018 and seven more in 2019 before undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery on his left elbow.”

Rodon has certainly faced an uphill battle that the Sox didn’t anticipate their third overall pick to encounter over the course of his six seasons with the Sox.

But the battle wasn’t over yet. 

Most recently, Rodon was set up to battle Reynaldo Lopez for the fifth starter spot with the White Sox in spring training. Lopez ultimately lost the battle to Rodon, signifying Rodon’s one-year $3 million deal he was granted from the Sox in February.

That deal quickly became a steal for the club this season as Rodon is having arguably the best season of any of the starting pitchers.

Rodon quickly became one of the Sox best assets. 

The veteran starter threw a no-hitter in his second start against the Cleveland Indians, striking out seven batters and hitting one in the toe, causing controversy at the end of the game with the break of a perfect game.

Rodon had a no-hitter going through six innings during his last start against the Detroit Tigers but lost it in the seventh inning. He ended up striking out nine batters, allowing one hit, one earned run and walking two.

The bottom line is that Sox fans should be appreciative of the starting pitchers they have to work with. Between Rodon, Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel, and Dylan Cease, the Sox have an admirable squad of pitchers to work with.