White Sox's Carlos Rodon Rips MLB for Inconsistent Punishments for Substances, Astros

Chicago White Sox starter Carlos Rodon has been blowing away hitters all season in what's unquestionably the best year of his career. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred got a taste of that heat on Tuesday as the lefty heavily criticized a memo sent to all clubs detailing punishments for pitchers who use foreign substances to doctor the ball on the mound. 

In particular, Rodon ripped the decision to suspend pitchers who get caught for 10 games after failing to punish any players on the Houston Astros for the team's sign-stealing scandal during their World Series run in 2017.

"If Rob Manfred can look himself in the mirror and say, 'Hey I'm doing the right thing,' that's fine," Rodon said. "But if you can't suspend the team that you actually knew was cheating during a playoff game, that's on you."

Manfred rather infamously declined to discipline any of the players in Houston who were involved in video-assisted sign stealing, instead opting to offer the Astros immunity in exchange for honest testimony about the scheme. 

It's a decision that has players angered more than a year later—and those in Chicago have a particularly good reason to be upset. 

Before MLB's investigation into Houston began with pitcher Mike Fiers blowing the whistle on his former teammates, the White Sox appeared to catch the Astros in the act during a 2017 game, as noted in Manfred's report:

"Although the Astros’ players did not attempt to hide what they were doing from [manager A.J.] Hinch or other Astros employees, they were concerned about getting caught by players from other teams. Several players told my investigators that there was a sense of “panic” in the Astros’ dugout after White Sox pitcher Danny Farquhar appeared to notice the trash can bangs. Before the game ended, a group of Astros players removed the monitor from the wall in the tunnel and hid it in an office. For the Postseason, a portable monitor was set up on a table to replace the monitor that had been affixed to the wall near the dugout." "

Rodon's comments will no doubt add another layer intensity as the 37-28 Astros host the White Sox for a four-game series beginning Thursday. 

Yet the Cy Young candidate was far from the only MLB star to blast MLB's memo on Tuesday.

(Warning: NSFW Language)

Tampa Bay Rays star Tyler Glasnow blamed the mid-season emphasis on grip enhancers on his potentially season-ending elbow injury while Los Angeles Dodgers starter Trevor Bauer criticized MLB's rollout of the policy after it "knowingly swept this under the rug for four years". 

Rodon just happened to go a bit further, making Manfred the target of his ire as pitchers across the game are asked to adjust on the fly.