“He’s a beauty”: Rogers, a native of Texas, leads the Tigers past the Rangers
ARLINGTON: Jake Rogers, the catcher for the Tigers, is from Canyon. Take a six-hour drive northwest from Globe Life Field, changing routes through a few little Texas cities as you meander into the panhandle. It’s an extremely lengthy drive without passing over a state line—nearly 400 miles.
Rogers’ family is still in the area, but most of them have moved out of Canyon.
Rogers guessed he left approximately 20 tickets. “There’s a lot of people from Crosbyton, Lubbock, Slaton, small towns all around that area,” he added. “And a few from Dallas.”
Rogers ensured that their journey was worthwhile. Rogers’ two home runs, which propelled the Tigers to a 2-1 victory, should make his family and friends proud, even though he may be pleased to have caught another Tarik Skubal gem.
“I don’t know if my family would let me back if I left Texas without a homer,” said Rogers.
It made sense, as the game served as a microcosm of Rogers’ assimilation into the Tigers’ youthful family.
Since 2020, Rogers and Skubal have collaborated at the alternate location as teammates. He is as familiar with Skubal’s habits as with his personality. Rogers will assist Skubal in doing the crossword puzzle on his start day prior to his pregame ritual.
Rogers is aware of Skubal’s sense of humour as well. Rogers understood how to lighten the situation when Skubal felt something lodged in his eye and had to call for a mound visit while he was cruising into the fourth inning.
Rogers poked about in Skubal’s eye before giving him a gentle slap across the other side of his face.
“I gave him a little love tap there,” Rogers recalled, adding, “and I vowed to use every chance I got to slap Skube on live TV.” All we wanted to do was keep things light.”
“He’s stunning,” remarked Skubal.
In a night where Skubal threw a lot of pitches in high-pressure circumstances, it was a much-needed moment. Skubal didn’t have a 1-2-3 inning the entire evening, but the only damage he caused was a leadoff home run by Marcus Semien on his fifth pitch. Skubal suffered for a well-meaning changeup that was poorly placed over the plate, but Rogers disciplined him to stay on the offspeed. In a six-strikeout performance, Skubal finished with just 11 swinging strikes, but six of those swings and misses were off changeups.
He gives me so much confidence in my throws and in the way he calls games,” Skubal remarked. “We’re going right after guys, and it starts with him.”
After Rogers fouled off back-to-back fastballs to stay alive in a 2-2 count, Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi hung a curveball, showing that he was every bit the opportunist Semien had been.
José Leclerc continued where Eovaldi left off, allowing the Tigers to manage just two more hits in his five and a third innings pitched. Rogers appeared to be ready for the fastball after he retired his first six batters and left a cutter over the centre of the plate. Rogers placed it in the seats close to the left-field corner, almost exactly in the same area.
According to manager A.J. Hinch, “He was our offence.”
When Rogers is rolling, this is his offensive style. While playing at least 75% of his games as catcher last season, he hit just.221 with a 98 OPS+, but his 21 home runs made him the first Tigers catcher with a 20-homer campaign since Mickey Tettleton in 1991. He makes mistakes made by opponents pay.
Rogers’s subsequent effort hasn’t had the same impact. He had only hit two home runs so far this season going into Monday’s game against the Rangers. Travis d’Arnaud of Atlanta and Oakland’s Shea Langeliers are the other two catchers who have recorded multi-homer games this season.
June 4, 2024 · 0:30
Go-ahead home run by Jake Rogers (4)
“Been working hard with [hitting coaches], just trying to hit the ball hard in the air again,” Rogers stated. “Hit the ball too much on the ground. It was profitable.”
Colleagues benefited much from it. It was priceless for friends and family.
