NEW YORK — Carlos Rodón remembered back to last year.“I couldn’t really bend my arm. I couldn’t button a shirt,” the New York Yankees left-hander said. ”I couldn’t scratch my face. I couldn’t take a drink of water. … I could definitely never comb my hair.”Seven months after elbow surgery, the 33-year-old is set to return to a major league mound Sunday at the Milwaukee Brewers. While he feels a lot better, it’s not like when he reached the major leagues with the Chicago White Sox a decade ago.“That’s almost a virgin arm then,” he quipped.Rodón is 93-72 with a 3.73 ERA in 11 major league seasons, including 37-26 since signing a $162 million, six-year contract with the Yankees in December 2023.He was 18-9 with a 3.09 ERA last season despite an ailing arm. His four-seam fastball velocity, which averaged 95.3 mph in his first season with the Yankees, was 94.4 mph in the first half last year and dropped to 93.8 mph in the second half.“He was great last year. So, just had to do it a different way. He didn’t have the range of motion,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “But I think if you talk to major league pitchers, especially ones that have done it for a while, you’re kind of always dealing with different stuff. So credit to him for being able to navigate it last year and with excellence.”Rodón’s fastball velocity dropped to 93.4 mph in his Division Series start against Toronto, when he allowed six runs and lasted just 2 1/3 innings.“They were mending to him every day to get him to post,” pitching coach Matt Blake said.Rodón said his elbow deteriorat …
