Friday night's matchup of Carlos Rodón versus Yoendrys Gómez actually features two starting pitchers facing the organization that gave them their first pro contract.
Gómez was just 16 years old when the Yankees signed him out of Venezuela in 2016, beginning his slow climb through their farm system that did not culminate in a major league look until 2023. From there, the right-hander has been bouncing between the minors and majors, burning through his option years, never catching on for more than relief work in the latter until this month with the White Sox.
In Gómez's 115 minor league appearances over the last eight years, 107 of them were starts, and his role preference is clear.
"Being a starter, it comes with a huge responsibility," Gómez said via interpreter. "And I just like it."
The three starts Gómez has strung together for the White Sox (18 IP, 15 H, 7 ER, 7 BB, 18 K, HR, 3.50 ERA) are the first three of his big league career, and Friday would seemingly offer the opportunity for the 25-year-old to show to his old organization what they missed out on. But after what Gómez has experienced in 2025 -- designated for assignment by the Yankees in late April because he was out of options, then DFA'd by the Dodgers again two weeks later, and finally once more by these same Sox after a brief bullpen cameo in May -- the rejection he felt was more far-reaching.
"Every time a team DFAs you, you feel like you're near the end of your career, and that was how I felt," Gómez said.
The White Sox, having already endured their share of former players flourishing with more resourced organizations like the Dodgers and Yankees, tried to look at Gómez's travails -- clearly influenced by his option situation and the loaded 40-man rosters he was a part of -- a little differently.
"The stuff has always been there," said pitching coach Ethan Katz. "That’s why a lot of teams have had him this year."
Parsing why a shot in a big league rotation hasn't been in the cards for Gómez until he reached the last place White Sox doesn't require much beyond looking at his walk numbers. He's walked 11 percent of hitters throughout his 130 career Triple-A innings, with no dissipating in his major league action (11.7 percent).
The Sox saw an unfortunate confluence of Gómez narrowing his arsenal to mostly four-seamers and sweepers against big league competition, and an inability to be as fine with his command as such a limited arsenal requires.
"There were signs of nibbling, trying to be too fine," Katz said. "The arsenal wasn’t really complete for us. So he had a chance to add on to his arsenal, which when we first acquired him, we were excited to start that process. The added pitches we’ve been able to accomplish, throwing a ton more strikes right now, confidence is there."
Gómez's return to the majors has seen him peppering in more cutters and changeups, but perhaps most strikingly a sinker that he had never thrown in big league action before. The presence of second fastball to work with has given opposing hitters more shapes to consider in the strike zone, and provided Gómez with a Plan B.
"Every day you feel different with your pitches," Gómez said via interpreter. "One day, one is worker better than the other and you have to go with that one. The next day, for one reason or another, a different one works."
"Him adding on to his arsenal has enabled him to navigate through righties and lefties and go deep in the game and pound the strike zone," Katz said. "He’s been great to see two different versions of him in his time up here. Now this as a starter is really exciting for us."
The league average for pitches seen in the strike zone is 52.5 percent this year for pitchers, according to Statcast. With his new arsenal, Gómez has been at 52.1 percent over his last three starts with the White Sox, after never cracking 50 before in any of his major league stints.
Jonathan Cannon's most recent work in Charlotte could have him back in Chicago this year, and Will Venable's praise for Gómez's has come alongside allusions to the right-hander returning to multi-inning relief work by the end of the season.
"His early usage has not put us in a spot where he's top of the list of guys we can worry about exceeding innings limits," Venable said of Gómez, who has 79 innings pitched on the year. "He should be in a good spot to just continue on here, whether that's a start or in the bullpen. We know he's got innings left."
But now, the combination of Gómez's available innings and unavailable options are not a ticket to the waiver wire, but a reason to keep him around now that he's shown that he can provide serviceable work. And more than he lauded any of his new pitches or stated his desire to keep starting, Gómez appreciates the investment that was placed in his talent.
"The people here, the coaches here have put more faith in me, trying to make me better," Gómez said. "For different reasons, they told me to add those pitches, sinker, changeup, cutter. They made me a starter again. It has been important for me to be able to control and expand my repertoire, because as a starter you need all your pitchers rather than just two or three, like I was using before."
And in light of that investment, Gómez wants to provide a return.
"You see a team that takes a chance on you and shows interest in you, you appreciate that and try to make the best of that opportunity. That's why I'm so grateful that this organization gave me the chance to be in a situation where I feel I can do a good job."
