AL DIVISION SERIES: ASTROS VS WHITE SOX

October 10, 2021

Carlos Rodon

Guaranteed Rate Field

Chicago White Sox

Pregame 3 Press Conference

Q. Hey, Carlos. We obviously just talked to you yesterday, but now that Tony has made it official that if you guys win tonight, you'll be pitching tomorrow, what kind of emotions do you feel, obviously, with the way that your season has gone this year?

CARLOS Rodón: Right now, I'm just focused on tonight, obviously. For there to be a Game 4, we have to win, and that's the most important thing right now.

Q. Before Game 1, Ethan said your bullpen -- that he was really pleased with the shape of your pitches. Tony just said the last couple of days, you've been feeling good. What have you seen of your observations of how your throwing has felt the last few days?

CARLOS Rodón: Yeah, I mean, the last few days it seemed like I've turned a corner. Ball is coming out good. I feel good. I feel ready. And like I said, it's a must-win tonight, so focus on that before Game 4.

Q. Speaking of tonight, did you lobby to pitch tonight? Did you want to pitch tonight? What was --

CARLOS Rodón: Of course. The competitor in me wanted to -- I definitely wanted to pitch tonight, but, you know, we got Cease going. I'll be out there cheering, and I got all the confidence in the world in him.

Q. Hey, Carlos, just following up on that, how tough is it for you to want to participate and understand that this is a win or go home game, and you obviously, just want to participate, how tough will it be to watch the game tonight as a bystander as opposed to being able to get out there yourself?

CARLOS Rodón: I don't think it's going to be tough. I think it's an elimination game. I think all of us even if some of the guys are coming off the bench, guys that aren't pitching, you know, I think -- I guess it's going to be tough to watch because of the nerves, right? It's out of our control, but all we can do is support our teammates and fight like hell.

Q. You've been here since Dylan came up, seen him develop over the last couple of years, seen him gain poise on the mound the last couple of years. What's your view of the evolution that's gotten him to this point?

CARLOS Rodón: I think I touched on this yesterday a little bit. Cease came up, what, '19 I think or the second half of '19, and you know, you saw a kid with all the ability in the world. Three, three-plus pitches and the change-up, overpowering fastball, and, you know, over the course of this year, it really -- it really has evolved, the command, the strikeout numbers are up.

It seemed like the second half was kind of where he started to blossom, and it's been -- it's been a pleasure to be his teammate and watch him grow over, I think, what, three years now that I've been with him.

Q. You've dealt with injuries throughout your career, and this year All Star first half and excellent year. Now you're kind of dealing with it to some degree again. I'm just wondering what it's been like for you personally to kind of navigate through the whole injury thing, maybe on a smaller, lower level, but what's it been like these last few weeks?

CARLOS Rodón: Yeah, my goal this year was to just get through the whole season and obviously perform. I think just staying on the field and getting through the whole season, the performance would just take care of itself. I wouldn't call it injury. You know, it's more arm fatigue and soreness, to be honest.

If we go back and look at the last two years, it was, what, seven innings last year, 40 innings the year before, and then this year it jumped to, what, 130, 130 something. I think it was just -- you know, it's a big workload. It's not that I don't want to take on the workload. It's just -- it's kind of hard on the body, I guess.

That's not an excuse. It just is what it is. I'm still standing here now trying to get on the mound and pitch, do my job.

Q. Carlos, from the two outings you had against them, I know it's probably a little different now and just from watching them the last couple of days, what's special kind of about Houston's offense or what do they do different than other good teams you've seen or faced over the course of the year?

CARLOS Rodón: They don't strike out very much, it seems like. Second time, third time through their working counts, they're deep -- their deep counts five, six, seven pitch at-bats up and down the whole lineup, and it makes it tough when as a starter they're pushing that pitch count up, and every pitch we throw, it's laboring later on in the game. So they could -- they do a good job of fighting and battling in two strike counts when they're behind, and they seem to work their way back in. They just put the ball in play.

Q. Carlos, as far as tonight goes, if it goes into extra innings and they give you the proper amount of time to warm up, is it all hands on deck for you as far as you're thinking?

CARLOS Rodón: It's kind of our backs against the wall. It's an elimination game, and I think it's a must-win today. And, like I said, I'm willing to play any role that I can to help this team, and if it so happens to go that way, and my name is called, then I'll step and take the ball.

Q. Carlos, is it just, you know, maybe the most challenging thing about pro sports, about being an athlete, you know, you can have a team that's really good and then runs into all sorts of trouble in a playoff series, or you can be a pitcher, you know, who has all this ability and determination, you can run into trouble with injuries that you just have a hard time getting your arms around and you certainly can't control. Is that the challenge of an athlete that doesn't get seen every day, but is always there?

CARLOS Rodón: Yeah, I mean, sports is a special thing, right? There's comeback stories. There's guys that, like you said, you have never heard of, and they have a big moment. There's guys that come back from injury. There's a lot of things. It's just part of the game we play.

I think for any professional athlete, it's part of the thing we do. There's going to be some adversity, but special teams seem to push past that adversity, and like you said, there's only certain things that we can control. Taking one tonight, tonight the only thing we can control is playing that game and winning.

Q. You know you've always had a lot of belief in your ability, but what's kind of the difference to see the results consistently and in terms of your confidence out there on the mound?

CARLOS Rodón: It just adds to the confidence, I guess, you know? It's pretty much the only way I can answer that. Like you said, yeah, I've always believed in myself even when I wasn't on the field, but fought like hell to get back here.