Carlos "Pavano" Rodon Had a Special Night Where He Didn't Record a Single Out Against The Royals And Then Disrespected His Pitching Coach Matt Blake While Out On The Mound

Ed Zurga. Getty Images.

There's no bigger fan of Carlos Rodon's than Carl Pavano. If the lefty isn't careful he'll have his name tossed around in the future as a reference when discussing a big pitcher who failed miserably in New York. It's that bad, this early and I didn't think that was possible. 

Well despite a train-wreck of a year, Carlos had himself an opportunity to end 2023 on a high note and head into the offseason with some momentum. Just dispatch a helpless Royals team and get your mind right. 

Rodon decided to not record a single out in the contest. 

Not one out, man. 

Truly impressive stuff. What a tremendous asshole. 

To make matters worse, when Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake went out to chat with him to try and fix whatever the hell was going on, Rodon turned his back to him. Way to go pal. 

Nothing like disrespecting one of the best pitching minds in the game. Blake has turned pitchers who had nothing going for them into All-Stars. He's a fucking miracle worker. For all the bad that comes with Yankees development and coaching, Blake is the anomaly. When he speaks, you as a pitcher best be listening. Not the guy to turn your back to, especially when your in the middle of the worst pitching performance of your life in the midst of the worst pitching season of your career. Who the fuck do you think you are to do that? 

Boone clearly wasn't happy afterwards and neither was Blake

(The Athletic) New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone poked his head around the bank of lockers in the visitor’s clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium. He appeared to make eye contact with starting pitcher Carlos Rodón, who then followed Boone into his office and closed the door. The pair didn’t emerge before reporters finished postgame interviews.

“Really embarrassing and then doing that with Matt coming out trying to help me, I turned my back,” he told reporters. “I was not in the right mind. That’s on me.”

“I understand we all have jobs to do,” Blake said in a phone interview, “He’s frustrated. That’s a big part of it. There’s a remorseful side and an apologetic side to it but you can’t act like that.”

You really couldn't draw up a worst first year for Carlos Rodon in pinstripes. For a guy who seemed like he'd embrace being a Yankee and thrive off the energy of the fans, it's been a fucking nightmare. He showed up to camp out of shape and almost immediately got himself hurt. Then there was his mysterious back injury that no one could fix for a while. There was also the blown kiss to the crowd on the road after a bad start. Whenever he took the mound he struggled to miss bats, throw strikes, you name it. The end result is a 3-8 record with a jarring 6.85 ERA in just 64.1 IP. Woooof city. 

The terrifying thing is that this guy has 5 years left on his deal. While that does mean he's got plenty of time to get this right, it also leaves open the possibility that this could get a whole lot worse. If he keeps this up he could go down as the worst big money signing the Yankees have ever made (6/$162M). 

If we're being honest, he's lucky the Yankees missed the playoffs. Imagine him taking the mound in October and continuing this disaster? There'd be riots in the streets. He doesn't get a pass for 2023, but if he left them out to dry in the postseason this would be 100x worse. 

Rodon needs to have himself an offseason. Lose weight, get yourself in tip-top shape, work on a 3rd pitch, and figure this shit out mentally. If you show in 2024 and pitch like you're being paid then no one will care about this year. 

Looks like he'll begin that quest with a good ol' fashioned darkness retreat. What could go wrong?!?