SAN DIEGO — The market for Carlos Rodón could become the next proof of free agency inflation. Rodón is another version of Robbie Ray last year. Both were coming off age-29 platform seasons with nearly identical numbers in innings (Ray had more, 191.1-178), ERA (Ray was slightly lower, 2.84 to 2.88), ERA+ (Edge to Ray, 157-140) and WHIP (Rodón by a smidgen, 1.03-1.04).
Ray won the AL Cy Young Award. Rodón finished sixth in voting for the NL award. Both lefthanders reinvented themselves with mechanical changes. Ray signed with Seattle for $115 million over five years. Rodón is aiming higher, and in this super-charged market and with the Yankees and Dodgers having interest, the question now is how much higher do the numbers go? No free agent pitcher has signed for six years or more since 2019. Rodón and Kodai Senga may get there.
Rodón is a different pitcher than when he fought injuries and mechanics earlier in his career. The same guy who once lived on fastballs and sliders down established himself in 2022 as a premier high-fastball monster. Rodón threw more high fastballs than anybody in baseball. He averaged 95.5 mph on his heater with a spin rate of 2,349 while keeping it an average of 3.05 feet off the ground. Here are the most extreme high-fastball pitchers, based on average height with at least 1,000 heaters: Cristian Javier (3.09), Rodón (3.05) and Justin Verlander (3.03). To give Rodón six years or more is to believe that transformation is sustainable.
