Rogers is confident he has earned a 2nd start
Carlsbad native excels in MLB Tuesday debut
Leading up to Tuesday night at New York’s Citi Field, Trevor Rogers had a grasp of the importance of the proverbial open door in front of him.
Had the Miami Marlins promoted the talented left-hander for this spot start as something of an audition?
“I think you’re probably right on that,” Rogers, 22, told the Journal on Wednesday morning. “They wanted to see what I can do. I had to go out and show them that I belong here. I think I did that. I think I opened their eyes a little bit and earned a longer stay.”
What Carlsbad native Rogers did in his major league debut was throw four one-hit, shutout innings, striking out six in a no-decision as the Marlins beat the New York Mets 3-0 in the second game of a doubleheader.
“He was good, he was poised, his stuff was good,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “He looked like he was under control the whole time out there.”
When Rogers woke up in his Manhattan hotel room on Wednesday, indeed, he wasn’t packing for a flight back to south Florida. The team, Rogers said, has not indicated to him how long he’ll stay, but he expects to make at least one more start with Miami.
Rogers follows the path of fellow Carlsbad standouts Shane Andrews and Cody Ross, who also played Major League Baseball. He said he got the call Sunday from the team that he would be leaving Miami’s satellite camp in Jupiter, Florida, and joining the Marlins to pitch in New York.
And, he said, the moment of pitching his first major league game — three years after finishing his playing days at Carlsbad High — matched his lifelong expectations.
“And some,” Rogers added. “It checked all the boxes. The only thing that was off is my family and all my friends weren’t able to fly out to be there in person. But I had their spirit with me.”
Rogers was erratic at times, walking five, and encountered trouble in the second and fourth innings when he walked batters. But he worked his way out of both jams.
Throughout, Rogers was the picture of calm. Stoic, was how his father Mike described what he saw from his home in Carlsbad, where about 15 family and friends gathered to watch.
“I kept trying to tell myself, it’s the same game, the mound is still 60 feet, 6 inches away,” Rogers said. “I also kept telling myself, don’t be afraid to fail. Baseball is a game of failure and you can’t be afraid of it.”
Rogers threw 87 pitches, 48 for strikes. The bullpen closed out the final three innings of the seven-inning game, which is regulation length of doubleheader games this year.
“It was a great outing, of course,” Rogers said, asked to assess his performance. “There are some things I can improve on. Five walks isn’t gonna get it done, and I was lucky to get out of some tough jams. Gotta get better there. I was trying to nibble too much.”
His fastball was lively from the start, and was consistently being clocked between 94 and 96 mph. The Mets, including last year’s National League rookie of the year, Pete Alonso, never really squared up anything
Rogers threw at them.
The Marlins Twitter account posted a video of a Rogers strikeout with this caption: “Welcome to Mister Rogers’ K-borhood.”
“Favorite caption of all time,” Rogers tweeted in response.
And when Rogers did get into some selfinflicted trouble, he simplified.
“Go after guys, quit trying to be too perfect,” Rogers said.
Rogers’ shined most in the top of the fourth, with New York having runners at first and third with one out, after Rogers issued consecutive walks to open the frame.
His best pitch of the night was a 95 mph fastball on the outside corner as Luis Guillorme struck out looking for the crucial second out. “Huge out,” Rogers said. The ninth-ranked prospect in the Marlins’ organization according to MLB Pipeline,
Rogers did concede that he felt a little anxiety Tuesday, even without New York’s notoriously chatty fans in his ear.
“There were a few moments where the heart rate spiked a little bit,” he said. “… But it’s still the same game. Different scenery is all.”
Well, not entirely different. In June 2017, when the Marlins selected him No. 13 overall, he attended the draft in New York.
“Crazy thing about it is, we toured Citi Field, that was the first big league ballpark that I got to tour,” Rogers said. “To have it come full circle and have that be (the location of) my first major league start, is pretty cool.”
On getting a chance to remain with the team, Rogers said:
“It’s very exciting. I kept thinking back, I was in high school 3 1/2 years ago. And now to be a big leaguer, it’s crazy.”