At the start of September, when the team began to publicly acknowledge that the postseason had become an unrealistic outcome, one of the biggest questions became how the Giants would handle Carlos Rodón’s workload.
The starter has been San Francisco’s best player this season, and arguably the most dominant pitcher in baseball. He also has an injury history, one complicated by a clause in his contract. How much stress should the Giants put on their soon-to-be free agent ace?
“The best thing that can happen for the San Francisco Giants and for Carlos is if we’re so aligned in what we want to see happen,” manager Gabe Kapler said Sept. 2. “Carlos wants to finish the season strong, wants to make every start, wants to put up great numbers, wants to help us win games. We want the same thing, because that helps the San Francisco Giants. The conversations have basically been around how do we set up Carlos to achieve his goals and finish strong?”
Those conversations may escalated since then, because Wednesday’s start provided a glimpse into how the rest of Rodón’s season may play out.
Rodón was as effective as ever, striking out eight Braves in five dominant innings. But he gave up the ball after 71 pitches. The decision — in a 4-1 Giants (69-74) victory — could mark the beginning of a new management strategy for a starter.
After the game, Kapler told reporters that Rodón’s blister and cracked nail, something that he’s been dealing with all year, were bothering him.
“We’re going to be cautious with Carlos,” Kapler said.
Rodón retired the first eight Braves he faced, needing only seven pitches to get through the first inning. Atlanta tried to attack early in counts, often swinging at Rodón’s first pitch, but to no avail. Highlight plays by Brandon Crawford up the middle and Mike Yastrzemski in center aided his cause.
A walk, throwing error and lined single in the third inning represented the only run Atlanta scratched across against the starter, and it was unearned.
The two-time All-Star generated 15 whiffs — seven on his go-to fastball and seven on his slider. Rodón improved his ERA from 2.93 to 2.84. He already leads baseball in strikeouts per nine innings and the National League in FIP.
He fanned Rookie of the Year contender Michael Harris II and MVP hopeful Austin Riley twice apiece. Great hitting can be no match for pitching as great as Rodón.
Rodón entered Wednesday tied for the MLB lead in Fangraphs WAR among pitchers. His last turn, he broke the single-season Giants record with his 10th double-digit strikeout game.
After fanning Marcell Ozuna for his eighth strikeout to end the fifth inning, Rodón’s total reached 220 — fifth most in a season by a Giants lefty ever. On that leaderboard, he trails only Madison Bumgarner (twice), Cy Seymour in 1898 and Rube Marquard in 1911.
Rodón passed his career-high for innings in a season Wednesday, and has an injury history that includes Tommy John surgery, shoulder inflammation, a sprained wrist and bicep bursitis. Fatigue limited him late last season for the White Sox.
Since Rodón has an $22 million opt-out in his contract for next season, the absolute nightmare scenario would be if he suffered a significant injury in a meaningless start. The Giants would like to bring him back, not pay eight figures for him to rehab.
But immediately, the Giants hope Rodón can still contribute down the stretch. Powered by his start, the Giants beat the Braves and took the series. Austin Wynns went 2-for-3 with three RBI. David Villar scored twice and J.D. Davis recorded two hits off right-handed pitching — an encouraging development. Camilo Doval, boasting a 100 mph sinker and 102 mph fastball, struck out the side in the ninth with 12 pitches.
Rodón can still put up video game numbers and help the Giants win — and win in impressive ways. But the Giants can make sure he does it in a cautious way.