*Photo from Call to the Pen*
One of the best starting pitchers left on the market just got a new home pretty quickly after the lockout ended. The San Francisco Giants and LHP Carlos Rodon have agreed to a two year, $44 million deal, with an opt out after the first season, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. The Giants have confirmed the deal.
Rodon, who was drafted with the 3rd overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox, finally had his breakout season in 2021. He finished the year with a 13-5 record to go with a 2.37 ERA and 0.95 WHIP, punching out 185 hitters in 132 2/3 innings, earning his first career all star game selection, while also finishing in 5th place in voting for the AL Cy Young.
Among pitchers with over 130 innings pitched last season, Rodon led the AL in ERA, strikeout rate, strikeouts per 9 innings, slugging percentage allowed, and batting average allowed. His Cy Young votes made him one of 4 White Sox pitchers to receive votes, joining Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, and Liam Hendriks.
In 7 seasons in the majors, all with the White Sox, Rodon has a career 42-38 record to go along with a 3.79 ERA and 1.29 WHIP, throwing 669 1/3 innings across 116 starts and 5 relief appearances. In two career playoff games, Rodon has pitched 2 2/3 innings and allowed 4 runs, striking out 3 hitters while walking 4.
One of the key cogs of Rodon's breakout season was the combination of his fastball and slider, which by itself generated 181 of his 185 strikeouts. His average fastball speed of 95.4 was the fastest ever in his career. Against his slider, opposing hitters had a .107 batting average and .126 slugging percentage, the lowest of any pitch with over 150 plate appearances decided by that pitch.
The familiar foe of Rodon in his career has been injuries. Rodon had Tommy John surgery in 2019, and missed a significant amount of time in 2017 and 2018 while recovering from surgery on his throwing shoulder, unrelated to Tommy John. In the second half of 2021, he was severely limited by both fatigue and soreness in his throwing arm.
When healthy, Rodon will be a part of a 2022 Giants rotation that features Logan Webb, Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Cobb, and Alex Wood, with Tyler Beede in the mix for innings as a starter as well.
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