Carlos Rodon looking to lean on Yankees raucuous crowd in chance for playoff redemption

For better or worse, Carlos Rodon pitches with full-fledged emotion. That is the case on a random weeknight game in April or in front of a sleepy crowd on the road. But the stakes are about to be raised on Monday night at Yankee Stadium, and Rodon plans on leaning into the atmosphere in his first playoff game in pinstripes. The left-hander will get the ball for Game 2 of the ALDS against the Royals, trying to funnel the energy of a rowdy home crowd into giving the Yankees a chance to take a 2-0 series lead. “The energy definitely fuels me,” Rodon said Sunday after throwing at Yankee Stadium in preparation for Monday’s start.“I think it’s something that I have to harness and deliver it towards the plate.

But I definitely use that.I’m going to try to use that to my advantage for sure.” Rodon was in the dugout Saturday night for Game 1 and called the energy from the sellout crowd of 48,790 “pretty spectacular.” Of course, riding that wave of emotions can go both ways, especially in the postseason.

Rodon has only pitched in the playoffs twice in his career — giving up four runs in 2 ²/₃ innings across two games with the White Sox in 2020 and 2021 — but hopes he can benefit from those experiences on Monday. “I think it’s kind of one of those things where at times you just have to slow it down,” Rodon said.“It can really speed up, especially in big situations.” Rodon remembered back to his last playoff outing in 2021, Game 4 of the ALDS against the Astros.

He was “amped up” to start a do-or-die game for the White Sox, but the first pitch he threw got tagged for a double by Jose Altuve.So Rodon stepped behind the mound, looked at the ground and took a breath before retiring the next three batters in order to leave Altuve at third base. But two innings later, things sped up on him as he hit a batter, walked a pair and then allowed a two-run double that knocked him out of the game. “I think early on in my career, I’d g...