Carlos Rodon chilled out and was star Yankees needed him to be

The lone sign that Carlos Rodon was running hot this start was that he was the only player on the field for ALCS Game 1 in short sleeves.

The first pitch Monday was at 50 degrees and the temperature dropped as the innings went by. The flags that ring the top of Yankee Stadium smacked around loud enough that you could hear them at times, even with 47,264 at top volume.

As an outdoorsman, Rodon said, he likes cold weather and thought it had been at least five years since he last pitched in long sleeves. Regardless of the weather Monday night, Rodon was chill. That is what he promised and what the Yankees wanted and needed.

“I thought he was just in complete command of himself and of his emotions,” Aaron Boone said after Rodon authored six overpowering one-run innings in a 5-2 Yankee triumph over the Guardians .

Rodon’s temperament became a key issue in the Division Series. Undermined by runaway emotions in his first Yankee season in 2023, Rodon was better in all ways in 2024. But then in the Yankees’ only loss so far this postseason — Game 2 against the Royals — Rodon came out on fire. He struck out three in the first inning and celebrated each as if New Year’s had struck. By the fourth inning, he was spent and ultimately knocked out of a game. He lost control of his equilibrium and the strike zone.

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It had the Yankees wondering if they really wanted to open a Championship Series with the lefty. But among Yankees, there is no one near as honestly self-analytical with reporters as Rodon. And his session Sunday was more therapy than news conference. He admitted his inability to take a deep breath and regather himself. And cited how in the Yankees’ clinching Game 4, Gerrit Cole had dispassionately and with a “poker face” rolled through inning after inning.

Why it would take a 10-year major leaguer with postseason experience this long to learn that lesson is one of the mysteries that comes with the Rodon experience. But at least he learned it. He sought, in his words, to be “a robot.”

“The goal was to just stay in control of what I can do, obviously physically and emotionally,” Rodon said. “I thought I executed that well tonight.”

As opposed to against the Royals, in many ways, the first inning was his toughest vs. Cleveland. Steven Kwan opened by fouling off three two-strike pitches and forcing a nine-pitch battle before flying out. David Fry singled and Rodon was behind all four batters in a 22-pitch inning.

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He faced 17 more batters and threw a first-pitch strike to 13, went to just one three-ball count and wound up walking none, striking out nine, inducing 25 swings-and-misses mainly with a fastball he worked in well to righty hitters and by unleashing a menacing slider. Brayan Rocchio led off the sixth with a homer, but with Clay Holmes warming, Rodon finished the sixth and retained the 4-1 lead.

“There obviously were a lot of questions coming off [the start vs. the Royals] if [Rodon] would start [ALCS] Game 1 or 3,” pitching coach Matt Blake said. “There was noise around that. But he set a tone for us here. He was aggressive and struck out guys who don’t normally strike out and he showed us he could be steady and neutral with his emotions. He never let it get too big.”

And the Yankees needed his work and the continued excellent bullpen work of Holmes and Luke Weaver, who both have appeared in all five Yankee postseason games without allowing a run.

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Like against Kansas City, there was another first-inning opportunity for Aaron Judge to break a game open, but he struck out with two on and no out and is now hitless in his last 21 postseason first-inning at-bats with 11 strikeouts. That led to the Yanks being 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and 6-for-42 (.143) in the postseason.

These Yankees are doing less with more — getting plenty of base runners, especially via walks, and not cashing in enough to create comfort in any of these games.

Juan Soto led off the third with his first Yankee postseason homer. What followed was a nine-batter sequence bridging the third and fourth innings in which Alex Cobb and Joey Cantillo combined to walk six and throw four wild pitches (all by Cantillo), including two that scored runs. It did make the score 4-0. But aside from the Soto homer there were no other hits, when one would have broken the game open. The Yanks were 2-for-12 with men on base and are now 16-for-84 (.190) in the playoffs. The only hit the Yanks registered after the Soto homer was one by Giancarlo Stanton with two outs in the seventh — his 13th homer in 32 Yankee playoff games.

It was enough to make the Yankees 4-1 in these playoffs and up one-nil in the ALCS because the run prevention has been excellent — on Monday fronted by Rodon.

He came out in short sleeves, but was a businessman staying cool throughout.

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