As Carlos Rodon was being introduced as a Yankee last month following the signing of his six-year, $162 million deal, Brian Cashman noted the team didn’t just like Rodon’s repertoire.
“One thing I can say is from all the information we gathered from his teammates in Chicago and San Francisco, he has a competitive side probably second to none,’’ the general manager said. “He really wants to win.”
That spirit can be traced back to well before Rodon started his career with the White Sox and then moved on to the Giants.
“Every game he ever pitches, he goes to a different place,’’ said Elliott Avent, who coached Rodon at North Carolina State. “He gets locked in. The bigger the game, the more locked in he gets.”
It’s why Avent, who has been the head coach at NC State for the past 27 years and saw Rodon develop from a promising high school pitcher into the third pick in the 2014 amateur draft, told the hurler he reminded him of a pair of other pitchers known for their competitiveness.
“Even when he was young, he was a big, strong left-hander with a massive body,’’ Avent said. “He’s like Roger Clemens with his temperament. I told him he was like a left-handed Clemens or Bob Gibson, from my era. His fastball was unbelievable, and no one could hit the slider. It was dominant.”
Those pitches were pretty good when he was at Holly Springs High School in North Carolina, too. That’s where he played for Rod Whitesell, who is still the head coach and athletic director at the school, located about 20 miles from the NC State campus in Raleigh.
“He always had an aggressive mentality, right when we got him as a freshman,’’ Whitesell said. “We’d have a scouting report on another team and say to pitchers, ‘Don’t throw this guy a fastball,’ and he’d say, ‘They haven’t seen my fastball.’ And he was right. We always wanted him to throw his.’’
Rodon led Holly Springs to a state title in 2011 — pitching and playing first base — and was drafted by the Brewers in the 16th round, but opted to go to play for NC State.
In college, he went 9-0 as a freshman, and a year later, in 2013, he led the Wolfpack to their first appearance in the College World Series since 1968.
In Omaha, Rodon tossed eight shutout innings to beat rival North Carolina before falling to the Tar Heels on three days’ rest to end the season.
In the majors, the fire his earlier coaches referenced sometimes has gotten the best of Rodon, including last season, when he kicked a bat after entering the Giants dugout following a poor inning during a July 26 start in Arizona. The bat hit teammate — and ex-Yankee — Thairo Estrada. Rodon’s fit of anger drew criticism from manager Gabe Kapler.
Rodon immediately apologized to Estrada, who stayed in the game, and also apologized publicly after the loss.
“He channels his competitiveness and uses it to make him better,’’ Whitesell said. “I know people had questions after he kicked the bat, but he just wants to win and is a great teammate.
The most important thing about Carlos is he wants to win.”
The Yankees believe they are getting the best version of Rodon, who just turned 30. And though injuries have affected his career, he has made a combined 55 starts over the past two years, when he rebounded from being designated for assignment by the White Sox following the 2020 season to become one of the best pitchers in the game.
He’s had success at Yankee Stadium, and as Avent pointed out, Rodon’s commitment to the game meant he threw his first pitch in New York City in the summer of 2012, when Avent and Rodon were in Manhattan after the left-hander was named a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the top college player in the country.
Rodon, only a freshman at the time, was on his way to pitch for USA Baseball’s collegiate national team, and needed to throw a bullpen session.
“We had to find a place to throw and it was late at night, so we got him some cleats at a store in Times Square and then hopped a fence in Central Park and threw ’til the cops chased us out,’’ Avent said.
This time around, Rodon will be more welcome in the city.
And playing short…?
The Yankees and Red Sox have at least one thing in common at this point in the offseason: Neither team knows who its starting shortstop will be on Opening Day.
For the Yankees, that’s partially by design. After sitting out the past two free-agent classes at the position, they clearly have decided to wait for either Oswald Peraza or Anthony Volpe to emerge as the shortstop solution. They traded for Isiah Kiner-Falefa a year ago, and got decidedly mixed results, especially on defense.
The Yankees remain encouraged by the development of Peraza — who showed promise during his brief stint in the majors at the end of last season — and Volpe, who played well after being promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
For the Red Sox, as well as some other teams that took the plunge on a high-priced free agent shortstop, there could be cause for concern.
Trevor Story will miss at least a significant portion of this season after undergoing elbow surgery this week, which has the Red Sox contemplating shifting Kiké Hernandez from center field to short in Story’s absence.
For their part, the Phillies had no such concerns after lavishing an 11-year, $300 million contract on Trea Turner, who also happens to be Rodon’s former teammate at NC State.
Teenage dream
While the Yankees wait for Jasson Dominguez to move his way up the minor league ranks, they could add another young outfielder to their system this weekend when the international signing period begins on Sunday.
Brandon Mayea, who is from Havana, Cuba, but now lives and trains in the Dominican Republic, is expected to sign with the Yankees.
Unlike Dominguez, who was widely considered the top international prospect when he signed with the Yankees in July 2019, the 17-year-old Mayea is considered a top-10 player in this year’s class. Listed at 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds, Mayea has been compared to a “mini Gary Sheffield” thanks to his quick and powerful hitting stroke, per MLB.com.
