Rodon hopeful for healthy future with White Sox
Carlos Rodon is going to finish the season just like he started it - inactive and uncertain.
The Chicago White Sox's top remaining starting pitcher was bothered by a sore throwing (left) shoulder when spring training opened, and he's dealing with the same issue with a week left on the schedule.
After missing most of training camp with left biceps bursitis, Rodon worked his way back to the Sox's rotation and made the first of 12 starts on June 28.
Rodon was scratched before his Sept. 7 outing against the Indians and shut down for the season with shoulder stiffness.
While an MRI showed no structural damage, Rodon and the White Sox are still not sure about the next step.
"We're just trying to get it right, man," Rodon said before Saturday night's game against the Royals. "Still trying to figure everything out and take everything we can and put it all together to get the most information and do what's best for me and for this team."
Like he said earlier this month, Rodon is convinced he'll be good to go in 2018. At the same time, the 24-year-old pitcher is not completely dismissing the worst case scenario.
"I can't tell you," Rodon said when asked about a potential surgery. "I can't answer that right now. We're still trying to gather information and figure out where we're going from there."
Manager Rick Renteria is equally uncertain about Rodon.
"I think they're still trying to figure out exactly what's going on," Renteria said. "At the end of the day, we're very hopeful he's going to be able to come back and be who he is, put himself in a routine this winter that will allow him the opportunity to come into spring training and get himself ready for the upcoming season."
Rodon throws a biting slider, a pitch known to put stress on the shoulder. But his overall mechanics are clean and he's not planning on making any changes.
"I can't see that being part of this," Rodon said. "The last thing you want to do is change someone's mechanics that they've had for their whole lives. I brought that here into the big-leagues and had minor success with it, so why would I change it?"
In 66 games (63 starts) with the White Sox since 2015, Rodon is 20-21 with a 3.95 ERA and 383 strikeouts in 373.2 innings.
With Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez now entrenched in the rotation, and with Michael Kopech and Alec Hansen possibly arriving in 2018, a healthy Rodon is critical for the Sox.
"He continues to be a big part of what we believe is the future of the organization," Renteria said. "Unfortunately, this year he's been down quite a bit. So assuming he comes back in a good situation and is healthy and is capable of going out and performing, he fits into one of the five guys that are going to be out there for us next season."