Yankees' Carlos Rodon excited to form 1-2 punch with Gerrit Cole

TAMPA, Fla. — After adding Carlos Rodon during the offseason, the Yankees believe that he and Gerrit Cole will give them one of the best 1-2 rotation punches in the American League.

Not surprisingly, Rodon, signed to a six-year, $162 million free-agent deal, feels the same way.

His enthusiasm for his first season in pinstripes is not just about him and Cole at the top of the rotation, though. He also referenced expected rotation mates Luis Severino and Nestor Cortes, who, like Rodon and Cole, are former All-Stars.

“It’s going to be pretty good, I would say,” said Rodon, 30, a longtime target of the Yankees who went 13-8 with a 2.88 ERA last season with the Giants. “A lot of good arms, quite a few All-Stars, it seems like. I think it could be something special if all [of us] do our job and show up every five days and take the ball. Sometimes you won’t feel great because that’s just a part of the game, but if we show up and take the ball, everything else will take care of itself.”

Cole said Thursday that he was on the phone with Rodon shortly after the lefthander signed. Rodon remembered the call.

“Gerrit gave me a ring as soon as everything got buttoned up there [with the contract],” he said. “I know Gerrit a little bit. We worked out together a few years back, I got to talk to him at an All-Star Game, I think in Colorado [in 2021]. But he gave me a ring, wanted to see how I was doing. I’m just excited. I’m excited for this group. This is a winning team, a winning club. I’m ready to see where this goes.”

Rodon, who faced hitters Friday for the second time since arriving in Tampa, said he and Cole “can definitely push each other start to start,” which is not uncommon among teams that have a strong 1-2 punch.

“It’s one of those like inner [team] competitions,” said Rodon, who was 3-3 with a 4.50 ERA in seven career starts against the Yankees, with all of those outings coming during the first seven years of his career (2015-21) with the White Sox. “But I’ve watched, everybody’s watched, Gerrit for a while. He’s a fun guy to watch. He makes it look easy.”

Rodon did that much of last season with San Francisco, crediting the development of a curveball that he started working on in the second half of the 2021 season and turned into, in his words, “an out pitch” in 2022. It was a welcome addition, he said, to what had primarily been a fastball/slider repertoire. He also is trying to incorporate a changeup, though that pitch continues to be a work in progress.

“As you saw the last few years, [I was] fastball-slider heavy,” Rodon said. “I started using the curveball [more] at the end of last year and I started getting really comfortable with it. At the end of last year, it started becoming a second out pitch, which is nice. So I think more work with it, especially through this year, I think it will get a lot better and it will definitely be in the mix.

“As far as the changeup, just trying to get the right profile on it. That’s something that we’re going to work at as a group to make that pitch better.”

Rodon said he doesn’t yet feel like a Yankee, something he anticipates likely won’t come until he pitches in the regular season in the Bronx. Still, he’s taken in what it’s like to be a Yankee.

“It’s the New York Yankees, it speaks for itself. It’s first-class, everything. The best of everything,” Rodon said. “Everybody knows the New York Yankees, let’s put it that way.”