Lefty Trevor Rogers struggles in key series opener at Atlanta,
His outing Monday started with back-to-back walks, an elevated pitch count and four runs coming across home plate before he could get his first three outs of the game.
It ended with six consecutive strikeouts in the third and fourth innings, showing the command and stuff the Marlins liked from him when they called him up to help with their playoff run.
At that point, though, Trevor Rogers was already at 91 pitches. He wouldn’t see the fifth.
Any chance for a lengthy start was likely doomed in the first on a combination of shakiness from both Rogers and his infield.
Rogers, the Marlins’ first-round pick in 2017 and their seventh-ranked prospect according to MLBPipeline, walked Ronald Acuna Jr. and Freddie Freeman to open the game. Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. immediately went out for a mound meeting.
The rest of the inning unfolded as follows:
● Marcell Ozuna grounded into a fielder’s choice to Jon Berti. Acuna made it to third.
● Travis d’Arnaud drove in Acuna with an RBI infield single down the third-base line. Brian Anderson couldn’t field the ball.
● Adam Duvall grounded into a fielder’s choice. Ozuna made it to third.
● Ozzie Albies hit an RBI single that deflected off Berti’s glove and into center field.
● Austin Riley lined a double into right field to score two more before Tyler Flowers grounded out.
Eight batters. Thirtynine pitches. Four runs scored, completely erasing the Marlins’ three-run effort to start the game. It was the second consecutive start in which Rogers struggled with his pitch count in the first inning. He needed 34 pitches to get his first three outs against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday and only made it through three innings that night.
On Monday against the Braves, he settled down and found his groove. He held Atlanta to one run in the second, worked around back-to-back singles in the third by striking out Riley, Flowers and Dansby Swanson, and needed 16 pitches to strike out Acuna, Freeman and Ozuna in the fourth.
But the damage was already done.
EXPANDED TAXI SQUAD
The Marlins are carrying 12 players on their taxi squad for this final week of the season, up from the normal five that has been allowed for the majority of the season.
The group includes six pitchers (Edward Cabrera, Jordan Holloway, Dan Castano, Braxton Garrett, Alex Vesia and Stephen Tarpley), two infielders (first baseman Lewin Diaz and Jose Devers), two outfielders (Jesus Sanchez and Magneuris Sierra) and two catchers (Ryan Lavarnway and Brian Navaretto).
All except for Devers, Holloway, Lavarnway and Navaretto are part of the Marlins’ 40-man roster. Sierra and Tarpley are on the 10-day injured list, respectively, with hamstring and oblique injuries. Holloway is on the COVID-19 IL.
INSTRUCTIONAL CAMP SCHEDULED
Gary Denbo, the Marlins’ vice president of player development and scouting, said in a midgame interview on the
Fox Sports Florida broadcast that the Marlins plan to hold a six-week instructional league camp at their spring training complex in Jupiter. That camp starts next week.
Denbo said the organization invited 50 of their top up-and-coming players to participate in the camp. He listed off nine of the club’s top-30 prospects as part of that group, including 2019 first-round outfielder JJ Bleday (No. 2), 2020 first-round pick pitcher Max Meyer (No. 3), 2020 second-round pick pitcher Dax Fulton (No. 12) and 2018 first-round pick outfielder Connor Scott (No. 15).