Jeremy Brevard – USA TODAY Sports
Despite all the pitching talent, the Houston Astros have amassed after years of clearing roster space and years of drafting, Carlos Rodon typifies a pitching specimen that the Astros don’t seem to have added yet — a power-arm lefty.
Brett Oberholtzer and Josh Hader are two of the more promising lefties in the Astros system, but they aren’t power arms, as their fastball tops out in the mid to low 90s.
Rodon is a whole new ballgame.
With a fastball that breaches into the upper-90s, Rodon has steadily solidified himself as the stand-alone at the top of the 2014 draft class — which is saying something given the mass of talent in the class. Rodon, a junior at NC State, has many of the pieces in place already of being a MLB starting pitcher. Everyone enjoys a lefty, especially one that can throw in the upper 90s, since it is such a rarity, and that’s exactly what Rodon is.
His college numbers are phenomenal. Last year alone, he went 9-0 with 135 strikeouts in just over 114 innings pitched. He only gave up 41 walks and two home runs, so he’s showing some of the major keys to a major league talent.
The Astros shocked plenty when they took Carlos Correa in 2012, but they capitalized by getting Mark Appel in 2013. Rodon may be too good of a talent to risk passing up on. All signs point to the Astros adding yet another pitching arm to their youthful organization, and who could blame them?
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