Another start, another disappointing effort for Carlos Rodon.
The lefty, acquired by the Yankees on a six-year, $162 million deal in the offseason, lasted four innings in a 5-2 loss to the Rays on Tuesday night in The Bronx in which he gave up four hits, four earned runs, four walks and two home runs.
“I wish I was a lot better than I was, that’s for sure,” Rodon said.
Despite showing promising glimpses in two of his five starts this season the other three have been subpar — including Tuesday against the Rays, the Yankees’ second loss of the three-game series.
Rodon and manager Aaron Boone saw the culprit being lengthy at-bats.
“I think the struggle was that they prolonged it badly,” Boone said. “So, I thought he was good at the top of the zone on his fastball, but they were able to spoil, spoil, spoil, and then which led to the few walks.
“So, they kind of outlasted him and they did that by having really tough long at-bats against him.”
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Rodon endured four full-count at-bats and five 2-2 count battles, which ultimately lowered his record to 1-4 and ballooned his ERA to 6.29.
“Yeah, for sure,” Rodon said, when asked if he felt inconsistent at times during the game. “As you saw the two walks, leadoff walk in the second inning. … Then I fell behind the count … they started making me pay. I was not good with the demand on the side of the fastball, unfortunately.
“I didn’t feel the fatigue, but they definitely made me work. Good pitches and made good contact on good pitches, and there’s just a good lineup.”
Rodon’s second and third starts of the season looked similar against the Rockies (July 14) and Angels (July 19), combining for eight hits, 10 earned runs, seven walks and three home runs over 9 ¹/₃ innings.
“I have to keep refining. Throughout this week, I got five days to get to work. Try to find that demand,” Rodon said.
“I felt it at times throughout this week leading up but I found the slider in the zone and it just didn’t show up during the game and they made me pay.”
