Levine: Carlos Rodon Confident Despite Poor Outing

By Bruce Levine--

GLENDALE, Ariz. (CBS) -- If White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon was a rookie trying to earn a rotation spot, he would be under extreme pressure to perform. Luckily, that isn't the case for the 23-year-old as he enters his second full season as a rotation staple.

Rodon gave up nine runs in 4 1/3 innings Saturday in a performance he would like to forget.

"I didn't really start off that well today," Rodon admitted. "Stuff wise, the ball wasn't really popping out of the arm. The electric stuff I usually have was not there. I finally found it in the third and fourth and lost it again."

A former All-American at North Carolina State, Rodon had a stellar second half in 2015, solidifying a rotation spot behind Chris Sale and Jose Quintana. He didn't have his stellar stuff Saturday -- without his wipeout slider being effective, Rodon was left out there trying to survive with his secondary pitches.

"The slider wasn't there for me, and I had trouble establishing the inside part of the plate," Rodon said. "Early in spring you go through a little dead arm period, and I think I had that last week. I can't say that for today's game. I felt good out there and the (velocity) is coming back. I felt strong and will be ready for the season for sure."

A National League executive scouting the game said had a tough review but thought there could be a silver lining in such a start in the spring.

"Rodon was down in velocity today," he said. "He was between 87-90 mph most of the day. His dominant slider was missing and hitters were sitting on his fastball. He threw three or four really nice change-ups. The two-seam fastball was missing by a lot. Frankly, he had nothing going on and he still competed like he was doing well. This type of outing is really good for a young pitcher with great stuff like Rodon to go through. He can learn to be naked to the world out there and still find a way to compete. There won't be many games where he has no slider or fastball command."

Rodon will stay back Arizona when Chicago goes to San Diego next week. He will pitch against minor league players Thursday in a final tune-up for his April 6 start in Oakland.

"I got to get up to my pitch count number (95), which was really one of the goals today," Rodon said. "I wish I had made it through six innings, but I threw some good change-ups in important sequences. I was able to build my confidence with that."

You see a lot of maturity in the way Rodon handles adversity now that wasn't there at the beginning of the 2015 season. Rodon's philosophical about bad outings and has learned to talk about his woes without being overly emotional. He has polite and articulate way of dealing with media questions now that wasn't there in the past.

Rodon was 5-2 with a 1.81 ERA in his final eight starts of 2015. For the season, he was 9-6 with a 4.07 ERA and struck out 139 batters in 139 1/3 innings.

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.