Tigers catcher Jake Rogers underwent Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of this season, manager A.J. Hinch announced to reporters (Twitter link via Jason Beck of MLB.com). The recovery time for position players is generally shorter than that of pitchers, but Rogers is still expected to miss some time next season as he recovers.
One of the more highly-regarded defensive catching prospects throughout his time in the minors, Rogers was traded to Detroit from the Astros in the August 2017 Justin Verlander blockbuster. He reached the big leagues in 2019 and has also logged some MLB action this season. Between the two years, the right-handed hitting Rogers owns just a .182/.264/.378 line with a massive 38% strikeout rate over 255 plate appearances.
Rogers has also rated poorly as a pitch framer in that rather limited time, according to Statcast. To his credit, though, he has been elite at shutting down the running game. Rogers has cut down 46.9% of attempted basestealers, a mark that’s far better than the 24.6% league average.
Catching looks likely to be a priority for the Tigers this winter, although there aren’t many surefire starting-caliber options available in free agency. Eric Haase, Dustin Garneau and Grayson Greiner are the other options available on the 40-man roster. Haase has hit reasonably well but comes with some defensive question marks, while Garneau and Greiner traditionally haven’t offered much at the plate.
Too bad they wasted so much time diagnosing…he could have surgery over a month ago
Thanks Doc good to know
Realistically that means it was too inflamed to see the damage on the mri, or operate. They may have had a very good idea what would be needed, but first needed the swelling to decline
Looks like there should be some competition next spring for backup catcher behind Haase….I’m assuming they’re not going to stand pat with Greiner (although I think he was at least adequate this year)……hoping The Tigers will give it some consideration in the offseason.
Garneau may sign for another year as a stopgap for Rogers/Dingler.
That blows, just about the only thing he was doing well was throwing people out. Hopefully he can keep the arm strength and figure out the bat while he’s out.
Hate these new Metrics for Catchers! Any one who actually watches these players would know that both Haase and Rogers have been phenomenal defensively this year. Pitch framing is a made up stat with more correlation to the umpire behind the plate, than the Catcher, IMO. More important is whether the catcher can block a ball in the dirt, and stop the running game. Haase does both well, and Rogers was even better. Here’s hoping for a speedy and full recovery for Jake!
Agree all the way around. I’m a bit nervous though as arm strength and pop time are Jake’s calling cards. We can only hope he can rebuild that arm strength after TJ. Pitchers seem to do it, but not everyone does (or they choose to protect their arm like how Kody Clemens was moved from 3B to 2B after his TJ in college).
Framing is a name for something that’s existed for decades. It just has a name now
and robo calls will put that BS in the trash where it belongs.
hate to see it! rogers is such a stud defensively that major league baseball will lack from one entertaining player
Best (or worst) mustache in the bigs!
He was starting to hit much better before the injury.