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| Carlos Rodon |
Now for some rare good news: Carlos Rodon has pitched really well in his past two starts, including his best outing of the season Friday at Fenway Park.
Here are the recent pitching lines for Rodon:
July 30 vs. Cleveland: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 9 Ks, 2 BBs
Aug. 4 at Boston: 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 11 Ks, 0 BBs
Total: 14.1 IP, 12 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 20 Ks, 2 BBs
That 10-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio is what I like about Rodon this week. The fastball command is there. The velocity is consistently about 97 mph. The slider is working. He's getting swings and misses, and he's getting outs in a reasonable number of pitches. No walks against Boston; that's what you have to do to give yourself a chance to win. The 11 strikeouts Friday ties a career high.
And it isn't as if these outings have come against crummy teams, either. The Indians lead the AL Central. The Red Sox lead the AL East. Both are likely playoff teams. The Indians rank fourth in the AL in runs scored; the Red Sox rank fifth.
These were good performances against good teams. Too bad Rodon received two no-decisions for his effort. At least the Sox won the game against Cleveland, but it wasn't happening Friday night in Boston. Mitch Moreland hit a walk-off homer off Aaron Bummer (0-2) in the bottom of the 11th to secure the win for the Red Sox.
The beat goes on in terms of the tanking for draft position, but since Rodon is one of the few on the current roster who is supposedly part of the long-term plan, it's nice to see him picking it up out there.
Make it THREE!!!
ReplyDeleteDuring the game it was noted that the leadoff hitter was getting on in five or six consecutive innings. But this actually confirmed what I've suspected for years - a walk is usually worse than a hit from the pitching perspective. It seems like something finally clicked with Carlos and that he would rather give up a single on two pitches instead of a walk on six pitches. And you can't get a double-play grounder if you prevent them from hitting the ball.
This is the kind of efficiency Sale and Sabathia learned very early in their careers, and which Kerry Wood and Mark Prior never learned. (And I am absolutely inferring something about arm injuries.) I didn't think Carlos was going to learn it but these last three starts have made me a believer. Heck, I'm happy that he only had four strikeouts!
I was kinda hoping Ricky would let Carlos start the ninth but without a lead I understood the pitching change.