Rodon will finally cash in — with Yanks or elsewhere

Two years after he was non-tendered by the White Sox, Carlos Rodon is in line for a huge payday, possibly from the Yankees.

The left-hander can thank his legs.

After an up-and-down first six seasons in the big leagues, in which he flashed first-round talent, but his consistency and availability were plagued by injuries, Rodon tweaked his mechanics to stay on his back leg longer in his delivery. That translated into making Rodon one of the best pitchers in the game. He posted a 2.67 ERA over the last two years with the White Sox and Giants, setting him up to cash in this offseason as one of the top pitchers on the free-agent market.

“He learned to pitch, we call it, from your armpits down,” said Jay Lehr, the lead pitching instructor at Pro X Athlete in Indianapolis, where Rodon has trained the last two offseasons.

Rodon, who turned 30 on Saturday, is now set to reap the rewards. Jacob deGrom and Justin Verlander are off the market, so Rodon is the best pitcher remaining for teams seeking a top-of-therotation talent, with his list of possible suitors including the Yankees, Giants, Rangers and Dodgers. The 2014 third-overall pick is seeking at least a sevenyear contract, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Thursday, though the Yankees would like to keep him to a four- or five-year deal at most, according to The Post’s Jon Heyman.

Either way, Rodon’s hard work will soon pay off.

After he broke into the big leagues in 2015, Rodon missed time with a sprained left wrist, left biceps bursitis, left shoulder inflammation (which required arthroscopic surgery in 2017), left elbow inflammation (which led to Tommy John surgery in 2019) and left shoulder soreness in 2020. Following the 2020 season, at which point Rodon owned a career 4.14 ERA, the White Sox nontendered him.

The White Sox hired Ethan Katz as their pitching coach that offseason, and he also drilled with Rodon on the importance of using his legs more in his delivery.

The results were quick to follow. In Rodon’s second start of 2021, he threw a no-hitter against the Guardians. He went on to post a 2.37 ERA with 185 strikeouts in 132 2/₃ innings, while his fastball averaged 95.4 mph after it had averaged 92.8 in 2020, according to Baseball Savant.