Carlos Rodon is the Hottest Pitcher in MLB Over His Past 5 Starts

Former NC State All-American pitcher Carlos Rodon has been the hottest pitcher in Major League Baseball over his past 5 starts.

His 1.56 ERA over his past 5 starts is tops in all of baseball. In all 5 of those starts, he has pitched 6+ innings, and has not recorded a loss (his record over the stretch is 2-0).

White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper attributes a lot of his success to first-pitch strikes, and the development of a slider. He is throwing first-pitch strikes 59.2% of the time, which is 4.4% higher than his career average. He currently has the 17th best slider in baseball, and uses it 24.5% of the time. Also, his pitches aren’t getting crushed as hard this year, with his hard hit rate sitting at a career low of 27%.  (Info via 670)

In Cooper’s opinion, Rodon has the stuff to be the best lefty in baseball.

“The stuff he’s got, he can be one of the best lefties (in the game),” Cooper said. (Link)

With a little less than 2 months left in the regular season, Rodon is easily compiling the best season of his 4-year career. His ERA (2.94), WHIP (1.09), opponent batting average (.191), and hits per 9 innings (6.16) are all at career lows.

Here is a quick clip from his 8K no-hit bid from late July.