The New York Yankees opened the season with left-hander Carlos Rodón on the mound.
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Opening Day is full of hopes and dreams, especially for the Bronx Bombers who were just a few wins away from holding The Commissioner’s Trophy last October.
While the offseason featured some highlights for the Yankees, two clouds loomed over the New York organization. Firstly, the loss of superstar Juan Soto left fans reeling as he signed with the New York Mets in Queens.
Secondly, the Yankees lost their tried and true ace in Gerrit Cole to Tommy John surgery. The absence of Cole from the rotation left the team scrambling for solutions with such little time.
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Thankfully, Rodón proved he could spearhead the New York rotation in his start against the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday. The southpaw threw six different pitches in the Yankees’ 4-2 win over Milwaukee.
“It’s good to be back,” Rodón said. “It’s been a little while, so it was nice to have the old faithful behind us again and to hear everyone in the stadium. It was electric as always here in the Bronx.”
Rodón held the Brewers to just one run, striking out seven in 5.1 innings. Although Rodón was thrusted into the Opening Day start, he certainly looked the part at Yankee Stadium.
“I thought Wells was great with the pitch calling today,” he said. “For me it’s just, we get a plan together he calls the pitch and I just roll”
Beyond his new pitching arsenal, Rodón debuted a new look that his wife Ashley could not help but publicly comment on. She took to social media to get her point across.
“I hear nothing,” Ashley Rodón wrote on X. “I just keep staring at the beard.”
The Yankees recently lifted the club’s longstanding band on beards. Players are now allowed to have “well-groomed beards,” hence Rodón’s new look on the mound.
Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner called the policy “outdated,” and some baseball insiders went as far to say it affected the team’s chances of signing players.
“Ultimately the final decision rests with me, and after great consideration, we will be amending our expectations to allow our players and uniformed personnel to have well-groomed beards moving forward,” Steinbrenner said. “It is the appropriate time to move beyond the familiar comfort of our former policy.”
While Rodón has been up and down for the Yankees in the last two seasons, perhaps the new facial hair is the start of the lefty’s strongest performance yet in the Bronx.
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