The latest clue in the Carlos Rodon mystery didn’t take long to unfold during his second spring training start.
His first pitch of the afternoon veered toward the strike zone — belt-high for the Rays’ Yandy Diaz — at 93 mph; it departed at 102.4 mph. The four-seam fastball traveled 396 feet over the right-center field fence as Rodon placed his glove on his right hip and Aaron Judge chased it from center field until he couldn’t chase it anymore.
The four homers Rodon surrendered in a live batting practice session Friday, when he joked that it makes those Yankees hitters “feel good about themselves,” maybe weren’t a fluke after all.
But 16 pitches later, Rodon exited the inning without allowing another baserunner. The next three innings blended together some good and some bad until his 60th and final pitch, when Rodon surrendered a two-run homer on another four-seamer. He left two batters into the fourth inning.
