Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did the unthinkable last week when he pulled Clayton Kershaw off the mound after seven perfect innings, spoiling what could have been the 24th perfect game in Major League Baseball history.
Kershaw said he was okay with the decision, made as the 34-year-old ramps back up from inflammation in his left forearm, even though the future Hall of Fame left-hander had only thrown 80 pitches.
New Giants pitcher Carlos Rodón flirted with perfection himself last year, and was only two outs away before hitting a batter en route to his first career no-hitter.
Rodón joined Murph & Mac this morning and was asked what would happen if he got pulled out 80 pitches into a perfect game. Safe to say Rodón wouldn’t have liked it.
“Kershaw’s going to be a Hall of Famer no matter what, but having a perfect game on his resume definitely set him apart from that elite upper echelon of pitching I guess I would say,” Rodón said.
“He was at what 80 pitches? You know the workload is not there, you want Kershaw at the end of the year. I mean all of us would want to throw a perfect game, and it’s hard to swallow as a pitcher honestly. If it was me, I probably would be close to throwing hands and we’d talk about it later,” Rodón said with a laugh.
Rodón, who has been dominant in his first two appearances this season striking out 21 in 12 innings, also spoke about Gabe Kapler, a different type of manager than Rodón had during his previous stint with the White Sox.
“I like Gabe, he’s kind of a breath of fresh air,” Rodón said. “And don’t get me wrong I’ve had some good managers. I’ve had some very established managers as you know Tony La Russa, just kind of like a polar opposite, and I like Tony, I liked playing for Tony. I played for Robin Ventura, who was a player’s guy, young, real quiet, didn’t say much. Tony was sort of the same way but had his ways.
“I didn’t mind Tony at all, but Gabe is different in a very good way. Him and I have had several conversations, he communicates a lot and hears people out. And I think that’s a great way to go about working in the baseball dynamic. It’s different.”
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Catch Murph & Mac weekdays from 6 – 10 a.m. on KNBR 104.5 / 680 and streaming live on KNBR.com.
