Carlos Rodon had to deal with his slider disappearing in the fourth inning and after a 4-2 loss to Kansas City in the ALDS in the Bronx, the left-hander and his family were forced to deal with online threats.
Rodon’s wife, Ashley, posted screenshots of X posted by anonymous users who mocked the couple’s use of IVF and wrote unprintable messages about their children.
“People are pretty disgusting sometimes,” Rodon said when the topic of the messages was relayed to him. “But that doesn’t explain Yankees fans. I don’t think that’s what they are. I understand [fans] I’m frustrated with the game, but my message to fans everywhere is: “We are human too.” We are not always perfect. … Let us remember that this is just a game and is not a threat to families.”
introduction on December 22, 2022. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
The ugliness came after Rodon allowed four runs in 3 ²/₃ innings in his first postseason start as a Yankee.
The left-hander’s Yankees postseason career appeared to be off to a great start before falling apart in the fourth.
He hit the side in order in the first, needing only 12 pitches, and he punctuated each whiff with an exclamation, spinning and shouting on the mound.
This confidence quickly disappeared.
In a scene all too familiar to Yankees fans, Rodon saw his business disappear quickly, this time in a critical situation, as he allowed four runs in the top of the fourth after the Yankees took a late 1-0 lead of third. .
Rodon looked dominant in the first two innings, striking out four and retiring six of the first seven batters he faced before throwing about two hits in the third.
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But Salvador Perez led off the fourth with a booming home run to left on a 2-0 hanging slider to tie the game at 1-1 and things only got worse from there.
Yuli Gurriel followed with a single on a slider and moved to second on a wild pitch.
Tommy Pham gave Kansas City the lead with a single to right center on another bad slider and after Rodon was close to ending the inning without further damage with a Hunter Renfroe strikeout, Rodon was at again burned by a single to get out of a slider. by Garrett Hampson to make the score 3-1 and end his night.
Ian Hamilton came in and gave up an RBI single to Garcia for the fourth and final run of the inning.
Rodon missed the “touchable sliders.” I could have been better with these pitches. I wanted to be better than that.
The end result was very different from the beginning.
The Yankees were hoping the 31-year-old would continue his strong regular season, which he finished with a 2.20 ERA in his final five starts.
Instead, it ended badly for Rodon, both on and off the field.
“It’s part of doing business,” Rodon said of the threats. “We get paid very well to play a game, but there is no place for people threatening harmless little children.”
