Trevor Rogers

NL East Notes: Marlins, Phillies, Mets

By Nick Deeds | June 11, 2023 at 2:34pm CDT

Marlins left-hander Trevor Rogers didn’t make his scheduled rehab start yesterday due to an issue in his non-throwing shoulder, according to Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. The club is currently waiting for medical results before making a decision on how to proceed with Rogers, who could be back on the mound in Triple-A as soon as early next week if the impending medical update is encouraging. Rogers has made just four starts for the Marlins this year while battling a biceps strain. In those starts, Rogers posted a solid 4.00 ERA (111 ERA+) with a 4.11 FIP and 19 strikeouts in 18 innings of work, though he did struggle with his command as he hit three batters and walked six in that time.

After Rogers’s setback, the Marlins may be left looking for rotation options in the near future, as Mish indicates that the club is hoping to “slow down” youngster Eury Perez, who has already pitched 60 innings this season between Triple-A and the majors after throwing just 77 innings total last season. The 20-year-old phenom has been excellent in 29 innings in the majors this season, with a sterling 2.17 ERA. That being said, Perez’s 24.8% strikeout rate, 10.7% walk rate, and unsightly 27.3% groundball rate all leave something to be desired, resulting in a less inspiring 4.34 FIP.

Mish suggests that the Marlins may limit the young right-hander to somewhere between 100 and 115 innings during the 2023 campaign, and the club is hoping to have Perez available later in the season. A natural time to slow Perez down seemed to be on the horizon with Rogers’s pending return, but with the lefty’s timetable less clear, the Marlins may need to look elsewhere to cover for Perez’s starts if they wish to manage his innings headed into the summer.

More from around the NL East…

Phillies fans got positive injury news regarding a pair of young right-handers yesterday, as Rule 5 draft pick Noah Song is set to begin work in sim games in the coming week, as noted by Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Song posted impressive numbers in 2019 after the Red Sox drafted him in the fourth round of that year’s draft, though he has not thrown a profession pitch since due to his service as an officer in the US Navy from 2020-2022 and this year’s injury woes. Coffey also notes that top pitching prospect Andrew Painter, who has been out since Spring Training while rehabbing a UCL sprain, threw a 20-pitch bullpen session yesterday. A consensus top prospect int he sport ranked as high as #5 by Baseball America entering the 2023 season, the 20-year-old Painter seemed poised to claim the fifth starter job in Philadelphia before the UCL injury left him shut down from baseball activity. Painter’s return to the mound is sure to breed optimism among fans in Philadelphia, though Coffey notes that manager Rob Thomson gave no update to Painter’s timetable for return ahead of yesterday’s bullpen session.
Mike Puma of the New York Post suggested today that the Mets could look to skip the next start of right-hander Tylor Megill, who has struggled to a 5.14 ERA in 63 innings as a regular member of the club’s rotation this season. Things have gotten particularly difficult for Megill over the past three weeks, and the young right-hander has posted a ghastly 8.64 ERA in his last four starts, walking a whopping twelve batters while striking out just fourteen in 16 2/3 innings of work. As Puma notes, the club won’t require a fifth starter until they face the Astros on June 20, allowing them to either skip Megill’s next start and use him out of the bullpen for a period of time, or perhaps option Megill to Triple-A before giving Joey Lucchesi or David Peterson a look in the rotation. Manager Buck Showalter acknowledged that coming off days provide the club with flexibility, “especially in the bullpen if we wanted to add an arm.”

NL East Notes: Soroka, Sanchez, Garcia, Rogers, Phillies, Doolittle

By Mark Polishuk | May 27, 2023 at 9:49pm CDT

The Braves optioned Dylan Dodd to Triple-A today, creating a question about who might start against the Athletics on Tuesday during what was supposed to be Dodd’s next turn in the rotation. Whether Bryce Elder pitches on Monday or Tuesday, Atlanta will need another starter for one of those two games, and it seems possible that Michael Soroka might be on the verge of his return to the big leagues. Manager Brian Snitker downplayed the idea to Sarah K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other reporters, saying that Soroka was just one of “all options” the team was considering.

A decision will have to come relatively quickly, as Soroka is slated to start for Triple-A Gwinnett on Sunday. The right-hander has a 4.33 ERA, 23% strikeout rate, and 7.2% walk rate over 35 1/3 innings for Gwinnett this season, though one rough outing against Buffalo on April 30 (seven ER in three innings) somewhat skewed Soroka’s numbers. If Soroka does return against the A’s, it will mark his first MLB appearance since August 3, 2020, as Soroka has had his career interrupted for close to three years due to a pair of Achilles tears. It remains to be seen if Soroka can pitch anywhere near his 2019 All-Star form, but for an Atlanta team that will be without Max Fried and Kyle Wright for some time yet, the Braves would love to see Soroka at least eat some innings and stop a revolving door in the rotation.

Trevor Rogers Placed On IL With Biceps Strain

By Darragh McDonald | April 21, 2023 at 2:50pm CDT

April 21: The Marlins officially placed Rogers on the 15-day injured list today with a left biceps strain, per Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extra Base. In a corresponding move, left-hander Steven Okert has been activate from the IL, where he began the season due to a left adductor issue. Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald had previously noted that Okert was with the club and that Rogers’ IL move was listed on the MLB transaction tracker.

April 19, 8:00pm: Craig Mish of SportsGrid tweets that Rogers appears likely to land on the injured list. He notes that the club is hopeful Rogers’ recovery timetable will be measured in “weeks, not months.”

3:05pm: Marlins left-hander Trevor Rogers was removed from his start today after a visit from the trainer, having thrown just 58 pitches in three-plus innings. The club later announced his ailment as left forearm tightness, per Andre Fernandez of the Miami Herald.

At this point, it’s unclear exactly what the lefty’s injury is or how severe, but any issue with a pitcher’s throwing arm is cause for some concern. He and the club will likely do further testing to get more clarity on the specific diagnosis and prognosis. The Marlins are out to a strong 10-8 start here in the early parts of the season and will hope that Rogers has just a minor issue that will not require any significant absence.

The southpaw has had an inconsistent career so far, which started with a 6.11 ERA over 11 starts in 2020. He then had an excellent breakout campaign the following year, throwing 133 innings over 25 starts with a 2.64 ERA. He struck out 28.5% of batters faced while walking 8.4% and getting grounders at a solid 40.1% rate. He came in second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, trailing only Jonathan India. However, he couldn’t maintain that production last year, posting a 5.47 ERA over 23 starts as strikeout rate fell to 22.2%. He also went on the injured list for about a month due to back spasms and finished the year on the IL due to a lat strain.

Rogers has been in decent form here so far in 2023, with his ERA at an even 4.00 after today’s truncated start. If he eventually has to miss some time, it would be the second blow to the Marlins’ rotation, as Johnny Cueto is on the IL due to biceps tightness and is reportedly facing an absence of several weeks. Even in the event of Rogers missing time, the club would still have Sandy Alcantara, Jesús Luzardo, Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett in that scenario, but they would need a fifth starter at some point.

Devin Smeltzer is up with the big league club for long relief purposes but last pitched back on April 10, when he allowed five earned runs in four innings. Sixto Sánchez is on the 40-man but hasn’t pitched competitively since 2020 due to ongoing shoulder issues and is currently ramping up in extended Spring Training. Daniel Castano has already been up with the club once and could perhaps do so again. Non-roster options in Triple-A include Chi Chi González and Bryan Hoeing.

Marlins, Twins Continue To Discuss Trade Possibilities Involving Luis Arraez, Pablo Lopez

By Anthony Franco | January 17, 2023 at 10:19pm CDT

The Marlins and Twins continue to explore trade possibilities involving Minnesota infielder Luis Arraez and Miami’s surplus of starting pitching, reports Dan Hayes of the Athletic. Jon Heyman of the New York Post first wrote last week that Arraez’s name had come up in discussions involving Marlins righty Pablo López but suggested the Twins were uninterested in parting with the infielder.

Hayes similarly hears that Minnesota isn’t willing to pull the trigger on a one-for-one swap of Arraez and López. However, Hayes characterizes Minnesota as willing to entertain larger possibilities involving Arraez and controllable starting pitching targets. While the Twins aren’t actively shopping him, they’re apparently keeping an open mind to broader trade permutations. There’s no indication anything is imminent, and Hayes notes that the sides haven’t directly spoken in several days even as a general line of communication between the clubs seemingly remains open.

The Marlins’ willingness to dealing from the rotation has dated back at least as far as the 2021-22 offseason. Miami has yet to make a major trade but is still generally expected to subtract a starter for an offensive addition between now and Opening Day.

Reports have suggested the Fish were amenable to offers on any of López, Jesús Luzardo, Trevor Rogers and Edward Cabrera. While there’s no indication that’s officially changed, it seems talks are focusing in on the most experienced member of the group. Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald wrote this afternoon that López has moved the forefront of Miami’s trade discussions around the league. According to the Herald, discussions on Rogers and Cabrera have “cooled” of late.

That’s not an especially surprising development. López is down to two seasons of remaining club control. Rogers and Luzardo are each controllable for four years, while Cabrera can be retained for another six seasons. That has made López the most straightforward trade candidate in the Miami rotation all along, although early reports this winter suggested the Fish might instead look towards a Rogers deal while keeping López in the fold.

Even with the comparatively lesser control window, López is a highly appealing trade chip for Miami general manager Kim Ng and her staff. The Venezuelan-born righty has posted a sub-4.00 ERA in each of the last three seasons. He hasn’t walked more than 7.5% of batters faced in any of those campaigns and has posted at least a 23.6% strikeout rate in all three seasons. López sits in the 93-94 MPH range with his fastball and owns one of the game’s better changeups. He misses bats and keeps the ball on the ground at an above-average clip and generally manages solid results against right and left-handed hitters alike.

He’ll play the 2023 campaign on a $5.45MM salary after avoiding arbitration last week. The 26-year-old will be due one more raise the following year before hitting free agency over the 2024-25 offseason.

Acquiring a starter who’s controllable beyond next season is apparently on the wishlist for a Minnesota club that could see a notable chunk of its rotation depart next winter. Tyler Mahle, Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda are all slated for free agency after the 2023 campaign. Of their current starting five, only Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober are controllable beyond next season. Minnesota extended their window of control over righty Chris Paddack by an extra season last week, signing him through the end of 2025. He’ll likely get another rotation opportunity at some point but is currently on the mend from the second Tommy John procedure of his career. Young pitchers like Simeon Woods Richardson, Josh Winder and Louie Varland could play their way into the mix at some point but are far from established.

While it’s easy to see the appeal of adding a quality pitcher like López who’d stick around through 2024, Minnesota remains unwilling to do so in a straight swap for Arraez. The left-handed hitter is arbitration eligible for one season longer than López, controllable through 2025. His 2023 salary remains undefined — he and the club look to be headed for an arbitration hearing after not reaching an agreement last week — but will check in between $5MM and $6.1MM.

Arraez is fresh off his first All-Star campaign. He claimed the American League batting title by hitting .316 and reached base at a .375 clip overall. The 25-year-old only hit eight home runs in 603 plate appearances but is among the sport’s best pure hitters. No qualified hitter struck out less often than Arraez, who went down on strikes in only 7.1% of his trips. He was one of six qualified batters with more walks than strikeouts, drawing free passes at a decent 8.3% rate.

A second base prospect throughout his time in the minors, Arraez has assumed more of a bat-first utility role in recent years. Public defensive metrics have given him mixed reviews for his work at the keystone, and Minnesota turned to him more often at first base in deference to Jorge Polanco last season. Arraez can also play some third base and rotate through designated hitter. Miami has Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jean Segura to play second and third base, respectively. There’d be room for Arraez to join right-handed power bats Garrett Cooper and Jorge Soler in the first base/DH mix, and he’s the archetype of the high-contact bat the Miami front office has reportedly sought.

If Miami and the Twins can’t bridge the gap in their trade discussions, the Marlins would find no shortage of interest in López elsewhere. The Padres and Cardinals have also been linked to the hurler this offseason while a number of others checked in at last summer’s trade deadline. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch implied this afternoon (on Twitter) there wasn’t much momentum between the Fish and Cardinals on López right now, though, suggesting that Miami’s interest in St. Louis outfielder Lars Nootbaar has been rebuffed.

Cardinals Among Teams To Inquire On Marlins’ Starters

By Steve Adams | January 17, 2023 at 10:53am CDT

The Cardinals and Marlins have held “at least preliminary” discussions regarding Miami’s bevy of young starters, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. Rosenthal suggests that St. Louis is a nice fit for Pablo Lopez, although on paper, it’s easy enough to make a case for just about any of the Marlins’ available starters as a fit in St. Louis. Each of Lopez, Jesus Luzardo, Trevor Rogers and Edward Cabrera has seen his name surface in trade chatter recently. Miami, however, doesn’t seem to have any plans to deal ace Sandy Alcantara, whom the Cardinals actually traded to the Fish alongside Zac Gallen in the deal that sent Marcell Ozuna from Miami to St. Louis.

The Cardinals have a solid-looking rotation on the surface, with each of Jordan Montgomery, Miles Mikolas, Adam Wainwright, Steven Matz and Jack Flaherty likely to slot into the starting five. Depth options behind the group include Dakota Hudson, Jake Woodford, Matthew Liberatore, Zack Thompson and Andre Pallante, although the latter two did well in a bullpen setting in 2022. Further down the line are prospects Gordon Graceffo, Michael McGreevy and Tink Hence, although none of that group is on the 40-man roster just yet.

All that said, however, the Cards could lose nearly their entire rotation after the season. Wainwright is set to retire, while each of Mikolas, Montgomery and Flaherty are free agents next winter. Only Matz, whose four-year contract covers the 2022-25 seasons, is signed or controlled beyond the current season.

In that sense, there’s good reason for the Cards to pursue a starter who can be controlled through at least the 2024 season. There’s surely some internal hope that someone like Liberatore, Graceffo or McGreevy can step up and seize a rotation spot when an opportunity inevitably presents itself this season, but that’s a lot to bank on. And, even if that happens, the Cards would still be looking at multiple rotation spots they need to fill next offseason — perhaps as many as three.

Lopez, 27 in March, has a 3.52 ERA over his past 340 big league innings and is arbitration-eligible through the 2024 campaign. Luzardo, even younger at 25, enjoyed a nice bounceback year in 2022 when he notched a 3.32 ERA and 30% strikeout rate, but a forearm injury limited him to just 100 1/3 innings. He’s under team control through 2026. That’s the same amount of club control as the 25-year-old Rogers, a 2021 Rookie of the Year finalist who stumbled to a 5.47 ERA in 107 frames in 2022, his second full MLB campaign. The 24-year-old Cabrera, meanwhile, has six full years of club control remaining and notched a 3.01 ERA in 71 2/3 innings in 2022.

None of that bunch is expensive, with Lopez’s $5.45MM salary leading the way. Finances shouldn’t play a major consideration for the Cardinals anyhow; they’re on pace to roughly match last year’s $163MM payroll, and president of baseball ops John Mozeliak had previously indicated the ability to increase payroll. From Miami’s vantage point, their projected $103MM payroll would be the second-highest mark in club history.

The Marlins are known to be seeking improvements to their lineup and have been prioritizing center field and catcher dating back to last offseason. Miami swung a trade for Pittsburgh catcher Jacob Stallings prior to the 2022 season but saw the former Gold Glove winner turn in a disappointing .233/.292/.292 batting line while his typically high-end defensive grades also cratered. Center field remains an unaddressed need, and Miami again appears likely to take someone better suited for a corner (Bryan De La Cruz) and hope for the best this season.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, are deep in outfielders with Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson and Lars Nootbaar likely lined up left-to-right at the MLB level. (Rosenthal suggests that of the bunch, Nootbaar is the least likely to change hands.) Top prospect Jordan Walker, who’s likely all but off limits in trade talks, looms behind that group. Alec Burleson, meanwhile, has already gotten some MLB experience, and fellow outfielder Moises Gomez posted big numbers in the upper minors. Behind the plate, the Cards have well-regarded catching prospect Ivan Herrera, who doesn’t exactly have a clear path to a regular role now that Willson Contreras has been signed to a five-year deal.

Certainly, the Cards and Marlins seem to have aligning needs that could lead to a trade, but there’s also no indication that talks are particularly heated. Miami has likely discussed its available starters with more than half the league, given the dearth of viable big league options elsewhere on the trade market. Even the Cards and Marlins themselves don’t know whether a deal will ultimately come together at this juncture, but it’s nevertheless of some note that the two parties have at least held some surface-level talks.

Marlins Letting Teams Know Four Of Their Starters Are Available

By Simon Hampton | January 8, 2023 at 10:55am CDT

The Marlins’ Pablo Lopez has often come up in trade rumors, but according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Lopez is just one of four starters that the Marlins are telling other teams are available in trade talks. The other three are Edward Cabrera, Trevor Rogers and Jesus Luzardo. It’s been widely reported for quite some time that the Marlins were willing to tap into their pitching surplus in trades, but this sheds more light on who the Marlins are willing to trade and who’s seemingly off limits.

The Marlins have a solid stable of controllable pitching with ace Sandy Alcantara and youngster Braxton Garrett joining that quartet, as well as a group of young arms including Sixto Sanchez, Eury Perez and Max Meyer who should be able to help the big league club within the next few seasons. As such, there’s definitely a surplus of pitching in Miami and the team could well look to offload an arm to bolster their offense.

Last summer, it was reported that the Yankees came close to a deal that would’ve sent Lopez to the Bronx in a deal involving Gleyber Torres. It was also reported this winter that the Marlins and Rockies discussed a deal involving Cabrera and Brendan Rodgers, so it’s not secret that Miami is listening on some of their starters. Notably, both of the two players the Fish would have acquired in those trades are second basemen, but they’ve recently gone out and picked up Jean Segura to bolster their infield group.

Instead, the team could look to turn one of their starters into an outfielder. The Padres have been linked with adding another starter, and have reportedly shown a willingness to trade Trent Grisham, so there could be a match there. It’s also been reported that the Pirates are seeking young pitching to headline any deal for Bryan Reynolds, so if the Marlins are really keen to make a big splash perhaps floating Cabrera as part of a deal would get Pittsburgh’s attention.

With six years of control remaining, Cabrera, 24, would certainly be an attractive acquisition for pitching hungry teams. A former top-100 prospect, he tossed 71 2/3 innings of 3.01 ERA ball for the Fish last year, with a solid 25.8% strikeout rate and an 11.3% walk rate.

Luzardo, 25, is hitting arbitration for the first time this year as a Super Two player, and is projected (via Matt Swartz) to make $2MM in 2023. He put together a 3.32 ERA over 100 1/3 innings with a very strong 30% strikeout rate and an 8.8% walk rate. He missed about two-and-a-half months last season with a forearm strain, but a full season of his output would make for a quality starting pitcher. The left-hander is under control for four more years.

Rogers, 25, was excellent in 2021, but took a step back in 2022. The southpaw made the All Star game in ’21 during a season in which he threw 133 innings of 2.64 ERA ball. That was followed up by 107 innings of 5.47 ERA ball in ’22, as Rogers saw his strikeout rate drop by about 6% and his walk rate jump by a percentage point. He also saw his HR/FB rate jump from just 5% in 2021 to 13.2% last year. Rogers is under control for four more seasons, and is due to hit arbitration for the first time next winter.

Lopez, 27 in March, was a steady presence in the rotation for the Fish last season, hurling 180 innings of 3.75 ERA ball over 32 starts. He may not possess the upside of the three younger pitchers, but Lopez has been a consistent pitcher for a few years now, finishing up with ERAs of 3.61, 3.07 and 3.75 in the past three years. Projected to make $5.6MM through arbitration this year, he’s under control for another two seasons and would slot nicely into the middle of a lot of rotations around baseball.

Marlins Won’t Trade Sandy Alcántara, Open To Other Offers

By Maury Ahram | December 4, 2022 at 3:13pm CDT

Ahead of the Winter Meetings, the Marlins have made it clearly known that Sandy Alcantara will not be traded, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Heyman adds that the Fish will listen to offers on “almost anyone” else.

Fresh off a unanimous Cy Young award, Alcantara seemed likely to remain with Miami through the offseason, with today’s news reaffirming that notion. Nevertheless, the Marlins have previously displayed a willingness to trade from their rotation surplus, sending Zach Thompson to Pittsburgh in exchange for catcher Jacob Stallings. However, the organization has made it clear that the 27-year-old, who is signed through the 2026 season with a 2027 team option, is off the table.

With that being said, the Marlins still boast a plethora of talent that may be moved as the team looks to boost the offensive production.

Pablo Lopez will likely be the next name floated in trade scenarios. The righty pitched to a strong 3.75 ERA in 180 innings with solid strikeout (23.6%), walk (7.2%), and ground ball rates (46.7%) during the 2022 season. Career-wise, Lopez has pitched 510 innings of 3.94 ERA baseball with a 23.2% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate, and 47.8% ground ball rate. Lopez, who turns 27 years old in March, is in his second year of arbitration eligibility and will be a free agent after the 2024 season. As of late July, the Marlins had yet to engage in extension discussions with Lopez’s management and were listening to trade offers for the hurler.

Jesus Luzardo is another potential Marlins’ trade candidate. Arriving from Oakland halfway through the 2021 season, Miami sent the hard-throwing lefty down to Triple-A to work on his mechanics before bringing him back to the major league roster as a starting pitcher. Despite missing over two months due to a left forearm strain, the 25-year-old was able to pitch 100 1/3 innings of 3.32 ERA baseball, with a hefty 30.0% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate, and 40.7% ground ball rate. As a super-two eligible player, Luzardo has four years of team control left before reaching free agency. However, despite his strong 2022 season, Luzardo stumbled to a 5.66 ERA in 154 1/3 innings across the 2020 and 2021 seasons, losing his role with the A’s staff before joining Miami.

Trevor Rogers is yet another talented and controllable Miami starter. A rookie All-Star in 2021, Rodgers experienced a sophomore slump with the Fish, pitching to a 5.47 ERA in 107 innings. Perhaps most troubling is that the lefty saw a sharp decline in his strikeout rate compared to his 2021 campaign (28.6% in 2021 compared to 22.2% in 2022). Nevertheless, the 25-year-old is only one year removed from a 2021 season in which he threw 133 innings of 2.64 ERA ball, finishing runner-up in Rookie of the Year voting to Reds’ second baseman Jonathan India. Rogers is only arbitration-eligible after the 2023 season, having missed this year’s super-two cutoff.

Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett are other starting pitchers that may find themselves the subject of trade talks as the offseason continues, but both of them have less than a year of service time and will likely factor into the Marlins’ future plans.

Latest On Potential Trade Scenarios For Marlins’ Rotation

By Steve Adams | November 18, 2022 at 10:20am CDT

It’s been widely reported over the past several months — really, dating back to last offseason — that the Marlins are open to dealing from their wealth of starting pitching depth in order to solidify other needs on the roster. That’s led to righty Pablo Lopez, who drew strong interest from the Yankees and the Dodgers at the trade deadline, being one of the most heavily speculated-upon trade candidates of the 2022-23 offseason. However, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes in his latest Marlins notebook column that the team may be more open to moving left-hander Trevor Rogers than Lopez.

The 25-year-old Rogers is coming off a down year — nowhere near the excellent season enjoyed by Lopez — but would appeal to other teams in a different capacity. While acquiring Lopez would likely require trading a bevy of prospects for a pitcher at his value’s peak, Rogers is more of a buy-low option on the heels of a down 2022 season. The former first-round pick was an All-Star and the NL Rookie of the Year runner-up to Jonathan India in 2021, when he tossed 133 innings of 2.64 ERA ball with a hefty 28.6% strikeout rate and a solid enough 8.4% walk rate.

The 2022 season was a brutal sophomore campaign for Rogers, however. Back spasms and a lat strain prompted a pair of IL stints for the 6’5″ lefty, and his results when healthy enough to take the mound didn’t even come close to that brilliant rookie output. In 107 innings, Rogers worked to a 5.47 ERA that was more than double his 2021 mark, and his strikeout rate fell by more than six percentage points (to 22.2%) while his walk rate crept up to 9.4%. After allowing just 0.41 homers per nine innings in 2021 (1.1% of his opponents took him deep), Rogers yielded an average of 1.26 homers per nine frames (3.1%).

In addition to the discrepancy between the pair’s 2022 seasons, Lopez is under team control for only two more years and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $5.6MM in his second year of arbitration. Rogers, meanwhile, is not yet arbitration-eligible and can be controlled for another four seasons. Both players would be highly appealing to the majority of clubs seeking rotation help this offseason, but a win-now club might feel better about plugging the veteran Lopez into its rotation, as he’s coming off a career-high 180 innings and has worked to a combined 3.52 ERA (3.48 FIP, 3.69 SIERA) over his past three seasons.

As was the case last offseason, it’s not a lock that the Marlins will trade any of their current big league rotation options. Many similar rumblings echoed throughout the 2021-22 offseason, but at the end of the day, the most notable arm the Fish had moved was right-hander Zach Thompson, who’d been their fifth starter. That the Marlins are open to moving Lopez and perhaps even more open to moving Rogers is notable, but that hardly means they plan to shop either pitcher and trade him for the best offer.

Rather, Miami appears likely to again set its sights on solidifying its center field vacancy this offseason. That didn’t transpire last year, and the team instead relied entirely on in-house options — most of whom were corner outfielders that were clearly miscast in center. Jesus Sanchez, former top prospect JJ Bleday and Bryan De La Cruz all logged significant time in center, but none of that trio drew particularly strong defensive grades for their efforts there.

Looking ahead to 2023, Miami will have to hope for better results from Avisail Garcia in one corner outfield spot and could again look to the trio of Sanchez, Bleday and De La Cruz as outfield components — though this time more likely in whichever corner is not occupied by Garcia. Jackson writes within his column that the bulk of Jorge Soler’s playing time will likely come at designated hitter next season, so he looks like an occasional outfield option, at best.

While center field is perhaps the most obvious area of need, Miami could also use upgrades at a variety of positions. Third base seems like another possible focus, and Miami lacks an obvious first baseman aside from Garrett Cooper, who’s been a candidate to be traded himself dating back to the deadline.

Of course, most fans salivate over the mere notion of 2022 NL Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara being made available in a trade, but with four years remaining on an affordable contract, there’s little to no hope of such a scenario actually transpiring. Alcantara is a veritable lock to be Miami’s Opening Day starter in 2023, and if Lopez isn’t traded, he’ll presumably slot into the second spot in the rotation. The Marlins will also lean on a resurgent Jesus Luzardo and hard-throwing righty Edward Cabrera — a longtime top prospect who broke out with a 3.01 ERA in 14 starts last year.

Rogers and fellow southpaw Braxton Garrett are the favorites to occupy the fifth spot in the rotation, particularly with top prospects Max Meyer (Tommy John), Jake Eder (Tommy John) and Sixto Sanchez (shoulder) all recovering from surgery. Right-hander Eury Perez reached Double-A at just 19 years of age in 2023 and could be another rotation option before long; he’s widely considered to be among the ten best prospects in all of baseball and, unsurprisingly, is considered squarely off the table (as is the case with Alcantara), per Jackson’s report.

Marlins Shut Trevor Rogers Down For Rest Of Season

By Darragh McDonald | September 19, 2022 at 8:45pm CDT

Marlins left-hander Trevor Rogers tells Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald that he will be shut down for the remainder of the season. The southpaw left Saturday’s start due to an injury that has now been diagnosed as a lat strain. Although it’s only a Grade 1 strain and thus minor, there’s not enough time left in the season to heal up and return to action.

Rogers, 24, made a brief MLB debut in 2020 and followed that up with an excellent 2021 campaign. He threw 133 innings last year with a 2.64 ERA, 28.5% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 40.1% ground ball rate. He finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, behind only Jonathan India.

It seemed like the Marlins had yet another talented young starting pitcher in their stable but it’s been a very disappointing season here in 2022, with just about every element of his game taking a downturn. Through 107 innings, he has a 5.47 ERA, 22.2% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 42% ground ball rate. It’s possible that health has been a factor, as he spent about a month on the injured list earlier this year due to back spasms and now has this lat strain. Regardless, it’s surely not the campaign that he or the Marlins would have hoped for.

In the short-term, the Marlins can survive for a few weeks with a four-man rotation of Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez, Edward Cabrera and Jesus Luzardo. They have an off-day on Thursday and another on Monday, meaning they won’t strictly need a fifth starter until the start of October.

In the long run, the club will have to decide how much they want to pencil Rogers into their plans. The Marlins are reportedly thinking about trading from their rotation surplus this offseason as a way to give a boost to next year’s lineup. Rogers is a potential candidate himself, though his stock is surely at a low point right now relative to a year ago. It might be worthwhile for the club to hope for better results next year and allow his trade value to rebound, though it’s also possible they consider him the most expendable of its current group. Each of the four aforementioned hurlers are sporting an ERA under 4.00 this year and none of them will reach free agency this winter. Despite his down season, Rogers has four years of club control remaining after this one and has yet to reach arbitration. That would make him an intriguing trade target for any club who believes 2022 was a blip and that 2021 was closer to his true form.

Rogers hasn’t yet been formally placed on the injured list but surely will be as soon as the club needs his roster spot. Since he won’t be returning this year, they could place him on the 60-day IL and use his 40-man roster spot for a waiver claim or to promote someone within the system for a cup of coffee down the stretch.

Marlins Designate Jake Fishman For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | August 31, 2022 at 2:40pm CDT

The Marlins have activated lefty Trevor Rogers from the 15-day injured list to start today’s game, reports Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. Fellow lefty Jake Fishman was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

It’s been a bit of a catch-and-release season for Fishman, a 27-year-old southpaw. Originally a Blue Jays draftee, he went to the Marlins in the minor league phase of the 2020 Rule 5 draft. He began this season in Triple-A, joining the big league club at the end of July. After a single appearance of 3 1/3 innings, he was designated for assignment and outrighted after clearing waivers. He was selected again on Saturday but has now been sent into DFA limbo a second time, also after a single appearance.

The lefty now has two MLB appearances on his record but has thrown 53 Triple-A innings this year. In that time, he has a 2.04 ERA, 23.9% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate and 52.6% ground ball rate. Players who have previously been outrighted in their careers can reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. Because Fishman got the outright treatment earlier this year, he now would have that right. The Marlins will place him on outright or release waivers in the coming days.

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