The Yankees take their late season push for an American League East division title into Minnesota on Monday for a game against the 70-79 Twins, with New York trailing the Tampa Bay Rays by four games with 13 left to play in the season.
The Yankees lead the Boston Red Sox by 4 1/2 games in the race for the top AL Wild Card spot, and send right-hander Will Warren to the mound Monday in Minnesota.
Before the Twins game, which starts the Yankees’ final road trip of the 2026 season, the team announced some welcome personal news about another of their frontline starting pitchers.
The Yankees announced that they have named Carlos Rodón as their 2026 Roberto Clemente Award nominee Monday, the second straight year the club has put the left-hander forward for the honor.
The recognition tracks the growing reach of the Carlos Rodón Foundation, the fertility and pregnancy-loss charity he runs with his wife, Ashley, a cause built directly from the couple’s own fertility journey.
Carlos Rodón’s Clemente Award Nomination and Foundation Growth
Rodón’s foundation has distributed $715,000 in grants to 60 families across 17 states, with 34 couples currently in treatment, according to the team’s official announcement post. Fifteen babies are on the way, and four have already been born.
The annual Willow Gala has raised more than $1.8 million over three years, and the August 2026 event alone brought in over $1 million, according to Ashley Rodón, in an interview with Elle magazine. The foundation has also partnered with Alto Pharmacy to lower fertility-medication costs for grant recipients.
Carlos and Ashley created the foundation in 2024 after enduring two miscarriages while preparing for in vitro fertilization, an experience that led directly to the Willow Grant, named for their daughter Willow, according to the foundation’s website. The grant typically provides $10,000 to $20,000 toward treatment costs for couples who have experienced pregnancy loss, according to the Willow Grant’s program page.
“She’s the quarterback of it all,” Rodón said, referring to his wife, according to MLB.com‘s 2025 nominee profile. Ashley has run point on the foundation’s clinical partnerships and its annual gala since the couple launched it.
Greenwich, Connecticut, declared Sept. 8, 2025, “Willow Grant Day” in recognition of the foundation’s work, according to an official Greenwich city proclamation. The Rodóns have also taken part in Yankees HOPE Week outreach tied to the cause, including a visit built around the nonprofit Bottomless Closet, which helps women prepare for job interviews.
Rodón, born in Miami to a father who immigrated from Cuba, starred at North Carolina State and reached the 2013 College World Series. The Chicago White Sox took him third overall in the 2014 draft, and he signed a six-year, $162 million deal with the Yankees after the 2022 season.
He returned from October 2025 elbow surgery to post a 6-3 record and a 2.94 ERA over 14 starts this season, extending a career mark of 99-75 with a 3.69 ERA, according to Baseball Reference.
Clemente Award History and Past Yankees Winners
Each of MLB’s 30 clubs nominates one player every September, with the national winner chosen by a panel that includes the Commissioner’s Office, the Hall of Fame and Clemente’s children. Fan voting counts as one panel vote and remains open through the regular season’s final day on Sept. 27, with the winner honored during the World Series.
MLB created the honor in 1971 as the Commissioner’s Award, given first to Willie Mays. The league renamed it for Roberto Clemente after his Dec. 31, 1972 death in a plane crash while delivering earthquake relief supplies to Nicaragua, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.
Only four Yankees have won the award. They were pitcher Ron Guidry in 1984, slugger Don Baylor in 1985, team captain Derek Jeter in 2009 and current captain Aaron Judge in 2023, according to MLB’s list of past winners. Judge presented Rodón with his nomination a year ago.
Yankees Announce Carlos Rodón Personal News Before Twins Game