Left- hander Rodon on right track in recovery
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Lefthander Carlos Rodon is feeling fine and looking so good in Arizona that the White Sox moved up his throwing schedule “based on how he was feeling,” general manager
Rick Hahn said Thursday. Rodon is on track to return to the starting rotation in late May.
Rodon’s last bullpen session was 30- 35 pitches, with sliders included.
“There’s this moment you see with guys who are coming off of injury where it’s almost like a weight is lifted off them,’’ Hahn said, “where they have convinced themselves they’re no longer hurt, they’re over the issue and they’re just building up back to baseball.’’
That’s where Rodon has been for a while, and it is possible the time away will have a benefit as well. Throwing only fastballs and changeups in his first several sidelines has been good for the changeup, pitching coach Don Cooper said.
“A lot of good things can come through injuries, believe it or not,” Cooper said.
As to who gets squeezed out of the rotation when Rodon returns, Hahn said that will likely take care of itself. If there is no easy answer, that “would be a good problem to have,’’ he said.
Bullpen strength
For one day it looked like home run power, but when asked to pinpoint this team’s strength in 2018, manager Rick Renteria cited the balance of his bullpen.
“With Joakim [ Soria] and now Nate [ Jones] being back, the experience that the guys in the middle have garnered and bringing in Luis [ Avilan] with some experience,’’ Renteria said.
Renteria also mentioned his three young starting pitchers [ Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Carson Fulmer] and Avisail Garcia, Jose Abreu and Yolmer Sanchez are coming off good seasons. “We just are a little bit more balanced across the board,’’ he said. “And [ players are] confidently, without being arrogant, carrying themselves in [ the right way].’’
Pitchers galore
The Royals set a major- league record using nine pitchers in a nine- inning game. The previous record was seven, done 10 times and most recently by the Rays in 2012. Renteria used five, including lefty Aaron Bummer for the final out with a seven- run lead.