Sox, Rodón see more to come at end of his dominant April

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At the start of spring training, we didn't know if Carlos Rodón would make the White Sox roster.

At the close of April, we're wondering if he'll be the team's Game 1 starter in a playoff series.

Rodón has been nothing short of amazing in his first four starts of the 2021 campaign. He's been downright dominant, a stretch highlighted by his no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians. Thursday, in the first game of a doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers, he was at it again, striking out a career-high 12 batters and allowing just one run in six innings.

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Rodón allowed all of seven hits in 25 innings, striking out 36 in four April starts.

It's been quite the journey for the former No. 3 overall pick, who was non-tendered in December after years battling significant injuries. He re-signed with the White Sox, struck up a relationship with new pitching coach Ethan Katz, and he's dazzled in nearly every trip to the mound since.

So can we pencil him in for Game 1 of the ALDS come October?

"Everything he's done, he's earned," La Russa said. "He's got to realize there's five more months of starts. Six months, hopefully."

That's a necessary point, though Rodón likely doesn't have to be reminded of it. Even after the exuberance of a no-hitter, he was talking about focusing on his next start, talking about how he won't have proven anything until he strings together an entire healthy season of similar starts.

That's what's worked for him as he's made an attempt to turn his career around the last few months. So it's no surprise he was sticking with that approach.

"It definitely feels good, I put a lot of work in to do what we've done thus far," he said. "Just try to keep building to the next start now.

"I consider myself a rhythm guy on the mound, and if I get in a groove, I think I'm a lot better. ... Every time I go on the mound, I just want to find that rhythm and keep going.

"I think it just built off spring training. The work we put in the offseason, during spring it just carried over. I just want to keep going with it, keep running with it."

With a strong regular-season debut in Seattle and the no-hitter against Cleveland, Rodón allowed the White Sox to dream of a starting rotation with some fearsome depth past its 1-2-3 punch at the top. With two more impressive outings to close out his April, that dream could start to turn into a plan.

The biggest preseason questions for this team, certainly before the injury to Eloy Jiménez, were what the White Sox could get out of Rodón and Dylan Cease at the back of their rotation. With such big question marks, the possibility existed, at least, of Rick Hahn needing to go shopping for an arm come the trade deadline.

That still might happen, but Rodón's emergence could turn the need for starting pitching into less of an emergency for these White Sox. With his help, the starting staff has been the team's strength in the early going, the no-hitter spurring Katz to say that "he could be one of the best pitchers in the AL, or baseball, if he stays healthy."

If this continues, he could keep the rotation a strength — the kind that powers a World Series run — all summer long.

"What a lift he's given us," La Russa said. "It's hats off to knowing he was healthy and what he did in the offseason starting. ... He's the one that's got to take it out there. Coaches, everybody helps, but can't say enough for the way he's competing.

"I just look at what he can be when he's healthy. I've seen him when he's healthy, and he's not one of those back-of-the-rotation starters.

"You can't say enough good things except remind him there's a lot ahead."

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