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Carlos Rodon began Saturday’s New York Yankees game against the Boston Red Sox with a 7-1 record and a 1.90 ERA over his previous 10 starts. He ended the game having given up four runs (three earned) in five innings and being the subject of death threats from fans.
“I hope something tragic happens to u,” one fan wrote along with a handicap emoji. Another fan said they hoped his next plane ride crashes and he dies.
“Do the world a favor and k*** yourself,” read another comment, while another told him to “just retire from life.”
Upon seeing those comments, Carlos Rodon’s wife Ashley called out the Yankees fans who were making death threats.
“5 innings… 3 ER,” she wrote on Instagram. “I mean not his best but definitely not go k— yourself bad… SHESH.”
The vile comments made by Yankees fans to Carlos Rodon aren’t the first he has been subjected to over the past year. Last season, after a 4-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals in the American League Division Series, Rodon and his wife Ashley were subjected to people making fun of the couple’s usage of IVF and writing disgusting messages about their children.
“People are pretty disgusting at times,” Carlos Rodon said about the messages. “But that doesn’t explain Yankee fans. I don’t think that’s who they are. I understand [fans] get frustrated with the game, but my message to fans all around is, ‘We are human as well.’ We’re not always perfect. … Let’s not forget this is just a game and don’t threaten people’s families.”
This latest incident also comes after Astros pitcher Lance McCullers, Jr. and Red Sox reliever Liam Hendricks received similar threats and nasty messages after bad outings.
It also comes after an anonymous poll of current Major League Baseball players by The Athletic revealed how much sports betting has negatively impacted many players’ relationships with fans.
“I’ve received (something) as simple as a Venmo request with a threat on it that says, ‘You owe me $9,000 because you blew the game – I need you to send me that money or I’m going to find your family.’ That’s too far,” one veteran relief pitcher said while being polled. “We’ve communicated as players to MLB security that we need to get a handle on this before it gets out of control. I don’t want to say this, but something bad is going to happen and it’s going to be like, ‘We told you so.’”