Before Sunday’s regular-season finale White Sox manager headed to the podium to talk about the state of his team heading into the postseason. On the cusp of an ALDS matchup against the Houston Astros, he uttered some concerning comments about Carlos Rodón.
“He’s like the great unknown,” La Russa said.
Rodón of course is coming off his best season in a White Sox uniform. His season highlights include throwing a no-hitter and earned a trip to the All-Star Game. His 2.37 ERA, 185 strikeouts, and 0.957 WHIP made him one of the crown jewels in a dominant starting rotation. With a 12.6 K/9, he will receive some votes for American League Cy Young. The White Sox rode their starting rotation to the division title and Rodón was a massive part of that.
But his second half of the season was plagued by injuries. He missed multiple starts due to nagging shoulder soreness that would not go away. Even with extra rest, his pesky left shoulder continues to give him problems.
Rodón lasted just three innings last week in Detroit after telling Tony La Russa that his shoulder didn’t feel right.
This is nothing new. Rodón has a checkered past when it comes to his health. Left biceps bursitis, left shoulder inflammation, left shoulder surgery, and Tommy John surgery is just a few of the issues that have popped up during Rodón’s tenure with the White Sox.
Tony La Russa placed added emphasis on Rodón’s final start of the season to see how his shoulder would respond. He stressed the fact that his outing would play a large role in determining Rodón’s availability during the postseason.
Rodón pitched well during his final start against the Reds. The southpaw tossed five scoreless innings and only allowed one hit. He also struck out four. On the surface, he passed the test with flying colors. But there were some red flags.
Rodón’s fastball velocity was down in the low 90s after touching the upper 90s for most of the season. Rodón has even hit 100 mph on multiple occasions this year. He also had to rely heavily on his slider to keep hitters off-balance. Luckily for him, his slider was sharp but if it wasn’t Rodón would have had a tough time retiring hitters with his style of power pitching.
La Russa’s comments added to the concern.
“I think the plan now is for him to throw a bullpen maybe Tuesday, and check that out very carefully and fast forward to when he would go out there and make a determination. But that could be a tough call,” La Russa said. “I mean, there’s no way to answer it today without flipping a coin. We just need to check him out Tuesday. And really, I think the roster doesn’t go in till Thursday morning, maybe see how he feels on Wednesday.
“It’s that important and that tough a call.”
Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn have the assignments for Games 1 and 2 so Rodón’ss services won’t be needed. But after that, the White Sox could use their All-Star starter. Dylan Cease has never started a postseason game and Dallas Keuchel has been abysmal this season.
The Houston Astros have already proven to be a hand full for the White Sox so they need their best 26-men available. But if Rodón can’t go Tony La Russa may need to turn to Reynaldo Lopez or Micheal Kopech, and use them as an opener. Rodón could be used in a limited capacity as an opener and have the long relievers bridge the gap to the back end of the bullpen. Tony La Russa did not rule this out saying the White Sox would take whatever they could get from him.
Or they could bite the bullet and hand the ball to Dallas Keuchel, who has ample playoff experience. Obviously, the White Sox prefer that Rodón is healthy. Tuesday will be the true deciding factor
“That’s the issue, stamina, and strength,” La Russa said. “Is he going to have as much as he had, more than he had, less than he had? (We’ll) take a look Tuesday.”
Fingers crossed his shoulder feels healthy.
