When the clock ran out on the Yankees’ 2025 season, it wasn’t long before Carlos Rodon went under the knife to shave down a bone spur and remove loose bodies from his elbow.
The procedure was a surprise to many in the industry, but the southpaw revealed to the media after Saturday’s workout that he had been managing the pain in his elbow through the season.
“It was fun every day to challenge myself to go pitch,” Rodon said. “Did it hurt sometimes pitching? Sure, but I’d rather go out there and compete. I was throwing well, so I couldn’t just say, ‘Oh, I can’t pitch.’ It was manageable.”
A big reason why the announcement of the surgery came as a surprise was that Rodon enjoyed his best season as a Yankee in 2025. He pitched to an 18-9 record and a 3.09 ERA, en route to his third All-Star selection. Rodon said he’s had aches in his elbow for three or four years, describing it as “chronic” and that had gotten worse over time.
However, Rodon said he decided to undergo surgery because he noticed his velocity dip as the season went along.
Post-surgery, Rodon said his arm felt like it “got ran over by a bus” but he has since received two PRP injections. The most recent came about 10 days ago.
Despite those feelings, Rodon is on the mend and has already thrown a few bullpen sessions this spring. On Saturday, he threw off a mound for the first time since that second PRP injection and he is just working on upping his velocity, and that it’s a slow progression.
Manager Aaron Boone said that Rodon’s range of motion in his left arm is right where they want it to be after his latest bullpen, which was an issue a season ago. In fact, by the time the season ended, Rodon admitted he could barely button his shirt due.
Rodon, who had Tommy John surgery as a member of the Giants in 2019, didn’t worry about his elbow issues in 2025. He knew he could be serviceable and that he wanted to be there for his team.
“Being a guy that’s been on the injured list a good part of his career, missing that time sucks,” Rodon said. “Not being able to compete, it’s hard. I’d rather be pitching. If I think I can pitch at 80 percent, or whatever it is, and help the team win and I could do that, I’m gonna do that because that’s what I was brought here to do.”
So, now that he’s thrown five or six bullpens, when can Rodon get into a spring training game? He said he hopes sooner rather than later. When asked if April was a possibility, the 33-year-old said with a laugh, “that would be great.”
Rodon will likely miss the start of the season, but he won’t be alone as the Yankees won’t have Gerrit Cole (Tommy John rehab) and Clarke Schmidt (Tommy John) to start the year as well.
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