TAMPA — An instructive and telling moment is approaching for Carlos Rodón.
After another bullpen session Saturday — “like my 12th one,” he said — the Yankees lefty is set to graduate to facing hitters next week for the first time since his elbow limited his range of motion last season, prompting a surgery to remove loose bodies and shave down a bone spur.
The slow buildup is part of an attempt to keep Rodón healthy and allow him time to learn how his arm — which he will happily stretch out and bend, as if proving he can — now can rotate.
“It’s different. Things have changed since last year or since the last few months,” Rodón said at Steinbrenner Field. “I’m still trying to figure out how everything moves again and just find the [pitch] shapes.
“… There’s a lot more movement now. With the arm, there’s a lot more space it covers.”
By the end of last season, Rodón could not fully bend his arm. To sip a cup of water with his left hand, he would have to lean forward because he did not have the elbow flexibility to reach his mouth otherwise.
Such limitations spilled onto the mound, where Rodón found a way to pitch — and generally well in an All-Star season in which he notched a 3.09 ERA, albeit compromised and struggling late — before the October surgery.
Now he is toying with his arm and throwing an “easy 90-91” mph during his bullpen sessions and has begun throwing his full array of pitches.
He is progressing but “throttled,” he said, pitching in control to test his mobility and find what to do with flexibility with which he is not accustomed.
“It changes when a hitter gets out there. You get an extra bump,” Rodón said. “I kind of need that. I need to do that so I can figure out where I need to be and how much more I need to be ready.”
The goal remains to debut in late April or early May, he said, during a season in which the Yankees plan to sprinkle him, Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt back into the rotation following surgeries.
They will have representative arms in the group in the meantime, a starting five of perhaps Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Ryan Weathers, Will Warren and Luis Gil — with Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough further options.
The Dodgers, for one, have solid pitching depth and routinely play for October rather than April and May.
They have become known for slow-playing their horses, ensuring the arms they most want on the mound in the playoffs are not burned out.
But no, Rodón said, such a strategy of a prolonged absence is not part of the Yankees plan.
“That’s worked out,” Rodón allowed of the Dodgers. “But you still need to have guys that will eat innings.
“If I’m able to pitch … obviously, I’m going to take myself over most people.”
It is remarkable that Rodón was able to pitch all of last season, when he couldn’t button his shirt but still made 33 regular-season starts.
By the tail end — including a pair of starts against the Red Sox and Blue Jays in the playoffs — his velocity (and the corresponding results) had dipped.
He kept taking the ball because he felt he could and because “that’s all I’ve known,” he said.
Now he needs to know what to do with a left arm he can bend, the next step facing hitters and seeing how his body and adrenaline respond.
“I’ve used the word ‘patient’ a lot over the past few weeks,” Rodón said. “I feel good. I’m happy with where I’m at. … Just need the competition aspect of it. Put someone in there, and let’s make it somewhat real.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
