Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón spent last season unable to bend his left arm enough to button his shirt, but he kept taking the mound anyway — pitching through elbow problems that required October surgery and will keep him sidelined until May.
Rodón made 33 starts in 2025, tied for the most in the majors, while dealing with loose bodies in his left elbow that severely limited his range of motion. The $162 million lefthander had the debris removed along with a bone spur during an October procedure that was years in the making.
“Just doing normal things were interesting,” Rodón said Saturday from the Yankees’ Tampa spring training facility. “Now did it hurt? Sometimes, sure, pitching. But I’d rather go out there and compete. And I was throwing well, so I couldn’t just say, ‘Oh, I can’t pitch.’ It was manageable.”
The elbow issues developed slowly over three to four years, Rodón said, but he managed them “probably every start” last season. Despite the physical limitations, he posted a 3.09 ERA with 203 strikeouts across a career-high 195 1/3 innings.
“The reason I did the surgery is the velocity and things were kind of taking a step back,” Rodón said. “It was just not who I normally — I was serviceable, but it wasn’t the normal version of me. So I wanted to make sure we got this fixed.”
Rodón’s four-seam fastball averaged 94.1 mph last season, down from 95.4 mph in 2024. The Yankees hope his velocity returns now that he has full range of motion back, though he’s still adjusting to the improved arm flexibility.
The pitcher said he received clearance from the medical staff that pitching through the injury wouldn’t make things worse, with surgery likely necessary regardless. He threw his fifth bullpen session Saturday after receiving two PRP injections during his recovery.
“If I think I can pitch at 80 percent and help the team win and I can do that, I’m going to do that, because that’s what I was brought here to do,” Rodón said. “I was winning games, we were winning games and that’s what was important.”
Manager Aaron Boone said earlier this week that Rodón was “not far behind” in his recovery, though the pitcher tempered expectations about an early return. Rodón said he needs to build up volume and throw more pitches before rejoining the rotation.
“The frustrating part was I knew I had more, but when your body’s betraying you, it’s an interesting battle,” Rodón said. “It’s an interesting dynamic in your head going through that.”
Rodón delivered a quality start against the Red Sox in last season’s AL wild-card series before struggling against the Blue Jays in Game 3 of the division series, though most Yankees pitchers had trouble in that series.
