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The White Sox announced Wednesday they placed the left-hander Carlos Rodon on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 8, due to left shoulder fatigue. Right handed Matt foster is Charlotte Triple-A to take her place on the active list. Chicago also announced that wide receiver Yasmani Grandal, who has been out since early July after undergoing surgery to repair a torn knee tendon, will begin a minor league rehab mission with Double-A Birmingham.
Rodon, 28, was lined up to start tomorrow’s Field of Dreams game against the Yankees, but that will now go to right-hander Lance Lynn. The South Siders haven’t provided a specific timeline for Rodon’s recovery, but manager Tony La Russa told reporters he expected it to be longer than a minimum stint on the IL (Twitter link via ESPN 1000’s Connor McKnight). Notably, Rodon has a history of shoulder problems. He underwent shoulder surgery in 2017 and also missed most of the 2020 campaign with shoulder pain.
The ChiSox have more or less finished the Central American League for a while now, so there is no sense in rushing Rodon back. His absence won’t seriously hamper the team’s 10.5-game lead in Central, and the team is surely focused on making sure he’s at full strength to close out the regular season and play a role. central in the playoff rotation.
Rodon serving as a key to the Sox starting staff in the playoffs would have seemed far-fetched to say the least, not so long ago. The White Sox did not call Rodon last December after a pair of injury-ruined 2019-20 seasons that saw Rodon combine for a grisly 5.74 era in 42 1/3 frames.
That non-bidding seemed to end Rodon’s time with the Sox, but just two months later he reneged on a one-year, $ 3 million contract. It wasn’t the most well-received signing in recent memory among White Sox fans, but Rodon has proven all opponents wrong not only by bouncing back from previous levels, but reaching new heights, as recently explored by Anthony Franco of MLBTR.
Rodon’s 2021 version was the overkill ace the Sox perhaps hoped he would eventually become by selecting him with the No.3 pick in the 2014 draft. In 19 starts this season, Rodon threw 109 2 / 3 innings of 2.38 ERA ball while stirring up 36.2% of his opponents against a very neat rate of 6.8%. He increased his average fastball speed to a career high 95.8 mph, poked 10 or more batters five times, and pitched a no-hitting game that was almost a perfect game.
Along the way, Rodon has established himself as one of the team’s front row starters, joining the aforementioned Lynn among the most dominant pitchers in the league. Rodon’s ERA is the sixth-best among pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched – Lynn leads the way at 2.04 – and no baseball pitcher has sniffed a higher percentage of his opponents (again, at minus 100 innings pitched).
The injury is unlikely to impact the White Sox’s chances of reaching the playoffs. However, Rodon himself would be better served with a quick return to his full strength, as he is set to return to the free agent market this winter. The dominance he has shown so far should already position him for a heavy multi-year contract, but a long absence can give teams some break – especially given the deep free agent class and number of options. alternatives on the market. He’ll already be viewed very differently than when the Sox let him go in December, but a quick comeback and a healthy finish would give an even more optimistic outlook.
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