Carlos Rodon frustrated over ‘s–t’ season, looking to rebound in return

Carlos Rodon is more frustrated than anyone about a season he termed a “pile of s–t.” 

The Yankees left-hander spent the first three-plus months of 2023 on the injured list with a left forearm strain and bouts of back stiffness.

He returned in July, posted a 7.33 ERA in six starts and left an Aug. 6 outing early with a left hamstring strain that forced him back to the IL. 

Ahead of his expected return Tuesday, he does not want to look back on his irritation over his hamstring — which he said is now feeling “totally fine” — and the many obstacles that have sidetracked his first season in The Bronx. 

“That’s over there. It’s behind me,” Rodon said Saturday before the Yankees lost their seventh straight game, 8-1, to the Red Sox. “I’m frustrated. It sucks. I don’t want to give up five runs every time. 

“I don’t want any of that. I want to show up in a perfect world.” 

His world has not been perfect, even when his body has been right. Rodon has yet to complete six innings in a start, and he has fought both opposing hitters and his own wildness, with 18 walks in 27 innings. 

The 30-year-old, coming off back-to-back All-Star seasons that landed him a $162 million pact, has not yet shown the Yankees and their fans what kind of pitcher he believes he is. The injuries have been frustrating, but he cannot control those setbacks. He said he hopes to be more in control of his pitches Tuesday, when he opens the series against the Nationals. 

“The only thing [I can control] is executing a pitch which — they’ve been in my control, and I haven’t really done that, either,” Rodon said. 

When last seen on the mound, Rodon left in the third inning of an eventual 9-7 loss to the Astros after he felt his left hamstring grab at him. He was moved to the IL against his wishes (“I was lobbying” to avoid a stint, he said), and he said that two days after sustaining the injury, his hamstring felt fully OK. 

Rodon has continued throwing throughout the downtime, which he hoped would enable him to remain stretched out. He will not be able to throw 100 pitches, Rodon said, but 70 is a possibility. 

The odds are against him and his team, but he hopes his season and the Yankees’ can finally take off. Andy Pettitte, serving in his new role as adviser, recently spoke with Rodon about the 1995 season, when a Yankees club that was 60-61 on Sept. 5 won 19 of its final 23 games to sneak into the postseason as the AL wild card. 

“Clearly it’s still possible,” Rodon said. “I don’t know how many games it’ll take … We can all speculate as much as we want, but we won’t know until probably Oct. 1 if we’re in or not. 

“We got to win,” Rodon said before the losing streak grew. “We really do.” 

Rodon answered questions about the Yankees’ and his own pasts, but said he has to avoid looking in the rearview mirror. 

“It just hasn’t been good,” Rodon said of his season. “I try not to think about it. I’m worried about the 22nd of August right now.”