Carlos Rodon's velocity is absent, but his results were good

Carlos Rodon

What do we make of Carlos Rodon's start Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds? If you look at his pitching line, you can't help but be pleased.

The White Sox left-hander worked five shutout innings in a 6-1 victory. He allowed only one hit, while striking out four and walking two. And he was efficient, needing only 69 pitches to record 15 outs; 43 of those pitches were strikes.

However, this was a depleted Cincinnati lineup. The Reds were eliminated from playoff contention Tuesday, and their two best players -- Joey Votto and Nick Castellanos -- received a day off Wednesday.

The big concern from a Sox perspective ... Rodon's velocity just wasn't there. For the season, his fastball has averaged 96 mph, and topped out at 99. In this game, his average fastball velocity was 90.9 mph. He topped out at 92.7 mph.

Velocity comes from the shoulder, and we know Rodon has been dealing with nagging shoulder soreness.

Rodon also threw more changeups that he normally would, and strangely, the velocity on his change (82 mph) was a tick higher than the average velocity on his slider (81 mph). But he did get three swinging strikeouts with his slider. 

You can't argue with Rodon's results. He shut the Reds down with good command, good sequences and changes of speed. The question is whether that's going to be enough in the postseason against a strong Houston Astros lineup.

But assuming Rodon is healthy coming out of this start, he has earned the right to pitch a playoff game. He's 13-5 with a 2.37 ERA this season -- without a doubt his finest campaign as a member of the Sox.

He's made 24 starts, and the Sox are 16-8 in those games. I think we're going to see Rodon on the mound in either Game 3 or Game 4 of the ALDS against the Astros, and we'll see if he can find a way, just as he did Wednesday against the Reds.