Chicago Cubs: Predicting what the 2022 starting rotation will look like

Chicago Cubs: Pondering the starting rotation for 2022 – #2: Carlos Rodon

Carlos Rodon is currently in the midst of a breakout season with the crosstown rival Chicago White Sox. Also on a team-friendly deal and overperforming to his fullest, Rodon has bounced back incredibly after a terrible last two seasons. Over the course of 2019 and 2020, Rodon posted a 5.74 ERA in just over 42 innings of work. It did, however, seem that things were going worse than they should be, indicated by his 3.85 FIP during that same time frame.

After the White Sox cut ties with him at the end of the 2020 campaign, Rodon just kind of hung around for much of the winter before re-signing on a one-year, $3,000,000 deal in early February. The southpaw has rewarded the team’s faith with an11-5 record and 2.41 ERA in 119 2/3 innings of work. As an important member of the White Sox’ dominant starting rotation, it is strange that their aren’t any rumblings of a contract extension, given how much he has turned it around this season.

Sometimes, if you are a below average pitcher, good games are bound to come along once in a while. Rodon has now proved he is not who we was and has made the adjustments needed to be one of the better starters in the game. If the White Sox really do make the mistake of not keeping him in the fold, the Cubs need to pounce.