ANAHEIM -- Carlos Rodon's command has improved enough lately for him to use his best out pitch more often -- a wipeout, low-90s slider, thrown hard at a right-handed hitter's back leg.
It's a devastating reverse-split pitch. No left-handed pitcher in the Major Leagues has thrown more 90-plus-mph sliders to right-handed hitters than Rodon, according to Baseball Savant's PITCHf/x data. The White Sox rookie has thrown 31 -- and 15 of them have come in his last two starts, both against the Angels. He hasn't thrown more than three in any other start.
"We got ahead, and you get 0-2, you try to bury the batter and go with the hard one -- that's the best one," Rodon said.