CHICAGO -- There are rollercoasters with less thrills than what Carlos Rodon has provided in his short tenure as a Chicago White Sox starting pitcher.
The talented young left-hander has already shown he has the ability to have a long and successful career, but he has also shown the inexperience of a 22-year old. It's easily identified in the five walks Wednesday against the Cleveland Indians, six Friday at Oakland and four against the Cincinnati Reds on the previous homestand.
A total of 15 walks in three games is a recipe for disaster, although Rodon is 1-0 in those starts and the White Sox won two of them. He ended up with a no-decision in the White Sox's 4-3 defeat to the Indians on Wednesday, but when he left the game it was in a 1-1 tie.
"Uh, not great, not bad, just in between," Rodon said afterward. "It's tough with five walks, gets the pitch count up."
At that point, he credited the middle infield of shortstop Alexei Ramirez and second baseman Carlos Sanchez for the two double plays that were turned behind him, showing that he does have the smarts of a seasoned pro.
For Rodon, it all comes down to going through the process of being a young pitcher. At this point last year, he was going to college classes and pitching for NC State. There isn't a hitter he faced a year ago that is playing on the level where he now resides.
"I think for him, there is a learning curve of being young and being able to consistently do it because hitters up here don't swing as much as college hitters for at the good stuff that you throw," manager Robin Ventura said. "You have to be able to throw strikes."
Sure Rodon only was tagged with one run, but by throwing 103 pitches he was only able to last six innings. That in itself proved to be problematic since Dan Jennings was called on to pitch the seventh inning and promptly gave up three runs.
Had Rodon been more efficient and been able to go seven innings, the White Sox would have been able to tap into relievers even more dependable deeper in the bullpen.
While it's easy to say that it is unfair to put Rodon in such a demanding situation of starting so early in his big league career, he isn't going to learn the nuances of major league hitters any quicker than he is right now.
"I think a lot of very good pitchers, like the guy across the hall (Corey) Kluber, kind of find it later down the road," teammate Adam Eaton said. "When they find it, it's tough to compete against. He'll be fine. It's his third start? Yeah, give him some time. He'll be good for us and we have all the faith in the world in him, and like I said, when it does come around it's going to be dangerous."
Rodon gave up his only run in his final inning of work, when he also walked two batters. The Indians cashed in on a sacrifice fly from Mike Aviles, but it was their only run of the sixth despite the fact they had the bases loaded with one out.
"The way he fought back and got out of that inning was a positive," Ventura said. "As he goes along, he's going to get better with command and things like that. The stuff is there, definitely. But cleaning it up, being able to get through that without giving the other team opportunities, you've got to make them beat you. You can't give them stuff like that."
Rodon knows it. He figures to start again on Monday at Toronto to begin a massive four-city, 11-game road trip, or the White Sox can start Hector Noesi that day and push Rodon back to the May 28 doubleheader at Baltimore.
Whenever that next chance comes, the rookie will be one start closer to finding his comfort zone at the major league level. While the White Sox are trying to get Rodon to learn a changeup to broaden his arsenal, he didn't throw any Wednesday, and only 13 of his 29 sliders were for strikes.
"Yeah, I mean it's different, guys are a little more patient," Rodon said. "You just have to throw strikes. When it comes down to the nitty-gritty, that's it right there."
