Carlos Rodón did NOT Have the Worst Start in MLB History
Just about every player has a down year, but the first season for Carlos Rodón in Yankee pinstripes has been a catastrophe. After signing a six-year, $162 million deal as a free agent, he missed the first half of the season with a forearm strain and back soreness. Fine. Injuries happen, but when he returned, he was nothing like the All-Star he had been the previous two seasons.
In 14 starts, he posted a 6.85 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, and allowed more hits (65) than strikeouts (64). He began his final outing of the season on September 29 with 64 1/3 innings pitched. When manager Aaron Boone took the ball from him, he finished with… 64 1/3 innings pitched. Here’s how the Royals fared against him: single, walk, double, home run, single, single, single, walk, merciful pitching change. His line for the day was zero innings pitched, six hits, two walks, and eight earned runs on eight batters faced.
In AL/NL history dating back to 1901, this was only the 13th game ever in which a pitcher faced at least eight batters and recorded no outs at all. Stephen Matz last “accomplished” the feat with the Mets on April 16, 2019. The record for most batters faced without getting an out is nine, set by the Tigers’ Hank Borowy in the seventh inning of a game in 1951. That’s good news for Rodón—at least he didn’t set a record no pitcher would want.
Borowy’s outing was a relief appearance. He entered with the game tied 9-9, but the St. Louis Browns had two runners on when the manager brought him in. By the time he allowed two singles and a homer, the game was already out of hand. This was one of six relief appearances ever with at least eight batters faced and no outs.
Rodón’s bad day was just the seventh such game by a starting pitcher. Here they are:
| Pitcher | Date | Team | BF | H | ER | UER | HR | BB | HBP |
| Bill Krueger | 1984-06-25 | OAK | 8 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Bobby Jones | 1997-09-17 | NYM | 8 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Blake Stein | 1998-08-31 | OAK | 8 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Paul Wilson | 2003-07-10 | CIN | 8 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Paul Wilson | 2005-05-06 | CIN | 8 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Steven Matz | 2019-04-16 | NYM | 8 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Carlos Rodón | 2023-09-29 | NYY | 8 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
There’s a glimmer of good news for Rodón. Wilson’s career didn’t end after he did it the first time, and he actually lasted long enough to do it again. In each of these seven starts, the pitcher allowed all eight runners they faced to score. However, four of them had some unearned runs on their ledgers. That means the official scorer believed at least one of the batted balls they allowed should’ve been an out, but was misplayed into an error. In other words, they didn’t deserve to be on this list, but their defense let them down.
The only three who allowed all eight batters to reach sans error were Stein, Wilson (the second time), and Rodón. These are the three worst starts in the known history of MLB, but which one was THE worst? Stein “only” allowed four hits and all four were singles. He’s out of the running.
Rodón gave up six hits and two walks, whereas Wilson surrendered only five hits with three free passes. In a merry-go-round inning like these, a single is as good as a walk. Wilson chalked up two home runs compared to Rodón’s one. He also yielded a pair of doubles, which means his 13 total bases allowed surpassed Rodón’s 10.
You see? Rodón last start of the year wasn’t the worst start ever. It was only the second-worst. Here’s to a better 2024.
