Yankees' Carlos Rodon has his regrets about 2023, and he's trying to do something about it

TAMPA, Fla. — Carlos Rodon said he put a horrendous 2023 in the rearview mirror almost as soon as he left Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium last October and headed back to his home in rural Indiana for the offseason.

But he wasn’t being entirely truthful.

“It sticks with you,” Rodon said Saturday. “I wasn’t very good. I was hurt, I wasn’t very good, and I know that.”

There were few positives for Rodon in 2023, the first year of the six-year, $162 million contract he signed with the Yankees as a free agent.

He showed up for camp that year chasing velocity, soon got hurt and started the season on the injured list with a forearm strain. Then he suffered a back injury during rehab that delayed his return further.

When Rodon finally made his debut July 7, he hardly resembled the pitcher who had gone a combined 27-13 with a 2.67 ERA in 2021 and ’22.

Rodon made only 14 starts and went 3-8 with a 6.85 ERA, and those poor results were made worse by a couple of incidents that he quickly regretted.

SEE PHOTOSPhotos: Yankees spring training

There was the afternoon of July 19 in Anaheim when Rodon, who allowed six runs, four hits and five walks in 4 1⁄3 innings, sarcastically blew a kiss to some heckling Yankees fans behind the visitor’s dugout as he came off the field.

Then there was his final start of the season, Sept. 29 in Kansas City. Rodon, shelled to the tune of eight runs and six hits while failing to record an out, showed up Matt Blake during a mound visit, turning his back while the pitching coach was speaking to him.

“There’s a lot of things I could have been better at. I could have been better in my mind, not so reactive,” the occasionally fiery lefthander said. “But that’s a double-edged sword. It’s part of my game. I’m an emotional pitcher. It takes me to the highest highs and it can take me to the lowest lows, and I’ve been to both sides and I know both sides. I don’t like the lowest lows. Now it’s [about] harnessing that emotion and putting it toward being great and winning ballgames.”

Rodon has done his share of winning in the big leagues, going 59-54 with a 3.83 ERA in nine seasons. But injuries have been a significant part of his resume, as have questions — particularly during his seven years with the White Sox — about his commitment and conditioning.

But those at the Yankees’ minor-league complex here took notice of a far more slender Rodon when he showed up for regular workouts in early January, and reports from the inside about his stuff and overall determination to put 2023 behind him have been positive.

In his most recent live batting practice on Wednesday, Rodon, whose fastball in spring training last year typically sat in the low 90s, touched 97 mph.

“He’s prepared his body to handle the rigors this year,” Blake said. “Last year when he came in and the velo was a little down, he’s going out there trying to do a little more than he needed to to get the velo, and the command suffers a little bit, there’s a little extra stress on the body, so it makes it harder to recover . . .

“He comes in now with a better base underneath him. He’s getting the velocity a little easier, the delivery looks good. It just gives him a little better floor to work from and I think it allows him to access the velocity a little easier just because he’s in better shape.”

That’s something that Rodon and the Yankees hope will help keep him on the field, an issue throughout his career. He spent time on the injured list (then called the disabled list) in 2016 (sprained left wrist), 2017 (bursitis in his left biceps and left shoulder inflammation later in the season), 2018 (recovering from left shoulder surgery), 2019 (left elbow inflammation that would lead to Tommy John surgery), 2020 (left shoulder inflammation) and 2021 (left shoulder fatigue).

His career high in innings was the 178 he threw with the Giants in 2022, when he went 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA in a career-high 31 starts.

“Go back and look at seasons and see how many innings I’ve thrown,” Rodon said of his injury-prone reputation. “It tells you, ‘Yeah, he’s pretty good when he’s on the mound, but how often is he on the mound?’ I’d like to change that rep, but it’s baby steps. It’s one step at a time.”