As I sit here, writing this blog post, the Chicago White Sox did not extend a qualifying offer of $18M to starting pitcher Carlos Rodón. This is surprising, as that is probably the lowest price you are going to get him for, not that he would even accept the QO, but to not even offer it to him, seems very strange. Yes there is uncertainty for his long term health, he had a tired arm after throwing the most innings he’s thrown in the MLB since 2016. There is speculation that his agent, Scott Boras, was in control of his rest, as free agency was looming after a remarkable breakout season for Rodón. Whether that is true or not, you could see where it would come into play. Scott Boras is a powerhouse agent in the MLB, and has been for quite some time now. Rodón is turning 29 in about a month, which still leaves him with prime years left in his career, barring anymore major injuries. Obviously at the time I am writing this, there is no intention of the White Sox re-signing him to any sort of deal, 1 year or more, in any capacity. What I wanted to touch on, was what Carlos Rodón brought to me, as a White Sox fan, for the 7 years he was here.
Carlos Rodón was drafted by the White Sox as the 3rd overall pick in 2014, out of North Carolina State. That is a pretty big deal to not only be a first round draft pick in any sport, but a top 5 pick. It was known that he had a good 94-96 MPH fastball with some movement, and a good slider, at that time. Being the 3rd overall pick meant the MLB was in his near future, as it is with most high draft picks. Rodón only pitched in 2 games in AAA before being called up in 2015 to the MLB roster. His first MLB appearance came on April 21st, 2015 against the Cleveland Guardians. He pitched in relief, with two outs in the 6th inning. I remember watching the game on my phone (I was living in Minnesota at the time), on some stream, and I was excited. It didn’t start off great, he walked his first batter, Brandon Moss, on 4 pitches. The next batter, notorious White Sox killer, Ryan Raburn, hit a single on a 3-2 count after an 8 pitch at bat, driving in 2 runs. He then faced Lonnie Chisenhall who grounded out to 3B and ended the top of the 6th. Rodón came out for the 7th inning, due up were Roberto Perez, Jose Ramirez, and Michael Bourn. He walked Perez on 7 pitches, then walked Jose Ramirez on 6 pitches. This was looking like a rookie throwing his first big league game. Michael Bourn then laid down a sacrifice bunt, runners on 2nd and 3rd, for Jason Kipnis. Now lefty on lefty is normally advantage pitcher, but for rookie Carlos Rodón, with poor control, it didn’t go great. Kipnis hit a sacrifice fly to left center field. Then the next batter, Michael Brantley, hit a single up the middle, scoring another run. Carlos Santana would then end the inning on a lineout. Rodón would then come out for the 8th inning, to face Brandon Moss, Ryan Raburn, and Lonnie Chisnehall due up. Moss grounded out, Ryan Raburn the Sox killer, hit a double. Chisenhall struck out swinging for Rodón’s first career strikeout. Then Roberto Perez would ground out, to end Rodón’s first career appearance. It ended up being 2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO on 60 pitches. For your first big league appearance it wasn’t all that bad. From there he would move into a starter role 2 weeks later.
His first career start was against the Cincinnati Reds, he would throw 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, and 8 K’s. That’s a pretty impressive first start, not only a quality start, but a momentum builder for his career. He started 23 games in 2015, finishing with a 3.75 ERA. That was a pretty good rookie year to build on. 2016 was the first season as a full-time starter, starting 28 games and throwing 165 innings. He would finish with a 4.04 ERA in 2016 and on track to be a solid big league pitcher in a rotation. This is where its going to get difficult for me to write. 2017 was going to be promising year for Rodón, as he was now going to be looked upon to throw a lot of innings as the White Sox entered a rebuild after a 2016 campaign that fell short. The rotation was abysmal with names like Derek Holland, Miguel Gonzalez, Jose Quintana (the ace at the time), James Shields, and Carlos Rodón. Robin Ventura has been let go, Rick Renteria was in his first season managing a rebuilding ball club. This was not your season of hope, by any means. It was a season for growth and getting ready for the future.
Carlos Rodón made it 12 starts in 2017, before a nagging shoulder injury became a devastating and season ending injury. He was diagnosed with biceps bursitis early on in 2017, then upon a return, suffered shoulder inflammation that shut down his season. Rodón would undergo arthroscopic shoulder surgery on this throwing shoulder in September of 2017. The surgery put him out until June 10th, 2018 when he would make his season debut. Rodón went on to make 20 starts that season, but the numbers just weren’t there for him. He struggled to find his rhythm and location most of the season. His goal was to make it through the season healthy and ready for Spring Training 2019, which he did.
Things were starting to look up for Rodón, health wise, coming into 2019. His arm was ready, he had taken time to get a better program in for his shoulder, and was ready to help a budding Sox team find a rhythm to start contending in the next few seasons. He was named the Opening Day starter for the White Sox in 2019, it had a different feel, I was happy for him. Things were feeling good, Carlos was ready to get going and show what he could do. Unfortunately, that would end, fairly abruptly for him. He would only make 7 starts in 2019, before his season was ended on May 1st, 2019. 17 days later, he would undergo Tommy John surgery on his left elbow. Shutting him down for 2019, and most of 2020. I remember that day, when that announcement came down. I was at home, on my couch, I saw it on Twitter, and my heart sank. Not only because I knew it was coming, but because I couldn’t imagine the sadness and anger that Carlos had to have been feeling. He battled most of his MLB career with injuries. He proved his stuff was there, but he was never healthy enough to show it consistently. He wanted to be a work horse, and be a starting pitcher on a contending team. I remember crying that day, not a hard cry, but a decent cry due to the anguish I felt as a fan of Rodón’s.
He would rebound in 2020, kind of, appearing in 4 games, making 2 starts in the 60 game season. Only throwing 7.2 innings, and having an ERA of 8.22. Shockingly making the playoff roster against Oakland, as well. He made one appearance, in game 3 of the series. Facing only 3 batters, giving up 2 ER and 2 BB. He didn’t record an out and was replaced by Matt Foster. It was the feeling that Rodón may not have a future in baseball, and if he did, not with the White Sox. The former #3 pick was given his chances in Chicago, and looked to be on his way out. The first step of that, was being non-tendered by the White Sox after the 2020 season ended. I again, cried. It wasn’t his fault, he gave what he could to the organization, through everything. He wanted to be here, he wanted to win here. This was his career to this point. He felt like he let the organization down, and that could have brought him self doubt. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how he was feeling. It was a painful day for me as a Rodón fan, who had been watching him and hoping we would see that talent shine through. It just hadn’t happened…yet.
Fast forward to February 1st, 2021: The White Sox bring back Carlos Rodón on a 1 year deal for $3 million. On that same day, he and his wife Ashley, welcomed their 2nd child. The plan was for Rodón to compete for a 5th starting spot with Reynaldo Lopez. He won it, quite easily. I was elated to have him back, and I wrote a blog shortly after how he would be the key to the White Sox 2021 season. Boy, was I right. At the time I knew him as a 5th starter would be a huge thing, little did I know, he would arguably be their ace. His first start in Seattle was a good one, only throwing 5 innings, and only giving up 2 hits. He did walk 3 batters, which isn’t what you wanted to see. He didn’t get in many jams, and gave up 0 runs. It ended as a 6-0 win for the White Sox on April 5th. He threw 95 pitches, his delivery was different, and his slider was dancing. Something that we hadn’t seen since 2016. Little did we know what would happen next.
Carlos Rodón’s next start would be in Chicago, against Cleveland. In front of a limited capacity crowd of 7,148 people. It was a cool April night, and Carlos Rodón, went to work. First inning, 12 pitches: flyout, groundout, popout. Bottom of the first inning, White Sox put up a 6 spot. Top of the second inning 13 pitches: lineout, flyout, groundout. Top of the 3rd inning, 10 pitches: groundout, lineout, popout. Top of the fourth inning, 13 pitches: strikeout, ground out, flyout. Top of the fifth inning, 15 pitches: groundout, strikeout, groundout. Top of the 6th inning, 12 pitches: groundout, groundout, backwards K. Start the countdown. 9 outs to get. Top of the 7th inning, 9 pitches: strikeout of Jordan Luplow, Cesar Hernandez flyout, Jose Ramirez lineout. 6 outs away. Top of the 8th inning, 11 pitches: Franmil Reyes flyout to 2nd, Jake Bauers strikes out swinging, and Amed Rosario strikes out swinging. 3. OUTS. AWAY.
Then the top of the 9th happens, due up are Josh Naylor, Roberto Perez, and Yu Chang. Things get quite interesting in this top of the 9th inning. Josh Naylor hits a very slow ground ball to 1B, Jose Abreu picks it, and has to do the splits to get Naylor at 1B. Cleveland challenges the call, and it ultimately stands as an out, and the perfect game stays intact.
The next batter, is Roberto Perez. On an 0-2 count, Rodón throws a backfoot slider, that hits Roberto Perez, in the right big toe. Ending the perfect game bid. There is still a no hitter to be had, but you could tell by the expression on Rodón’s face he was disappointed.
Then Yu Chang comes to the plate, Rodón hasn’t worked out of the stretch the entire night. What does he do? Strikes out Chang looking on 4 pitches. The next batter is the noted lefty killer, Jordan Luplow. However, he has obviously been held hitless to that point. It has been a 7 pitch AB and on pitch number 8, he hits a ground ball that is fielded by Yoan Moncada, and we have ourselves, a no-hitter.
I remember the joy, the elation I felt at that moment. Everything he has been through, and it was best summed up by a tweet from The Athletic:
I cried happy tears, I was yelling and screaming, it was just a pure high of emotion. The final line being 9 IP, 0 H, 7 K, 0 BB, 0 ER, 1 HBP. He threw 114 pitches on his way to a no-hitter. Absolutely amazing to witness and be happy for. Obviously the highlight of his remarkable season. One of the best feel good stories from 2021, in my opinion.
However, that wasn’t my favorite start of this 2021 season from Carlos Rodón. His start at the Yankees on May 21st was my favorite. He threw 6 innings, 2 H, 0 ER, and 13 K (!). I remember how deadly his slider was against Judge and Stanton that day. It was absolutely electric. I was amped up. The rest of the season went very well for Carlos, although he shut down for a bit with shoulder fatigue, when he was in there, he was dominating. He finished the season 13-5 with a 2.37 ERA, 185 SO, a WHIP of 0.957 over 24 starts. If not for a 3rd straight fastball in game 4 of the ALDS, I think the White Sox could’ve made a deep run.
With all that said, not even extending a QO to a guy who has given so much to you over 7 years, is a brutal slap in the face. It is understandable you aren’t sure of the longevity, but at least make the offer. I hope that Rodón does find his way onto a team and has great career. There is no telling what his market is or if the Sox still value him in any capacity. I just want the best for him and his family going forward. I asked Twitter if they had any highlights from Rodón’s tenure with the White Sox. I also found some tweets I enjoyed after the news of him not getting a QO was released:
Rodón will be missed if he doesn’t come back. I just wanted to write down my feelings and somet things that may have been forgotten about his career here. I will miss him very much, I hope the best for his career, as long as he doesn’t dominate the White Sox.
Thank you, Carlos, for everything these last 7 years. It meant a lot to me.
Sam
All Sports Scene 
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