Detroit Tigers Newsletter: Jake Rogers about to join an exclusive club of catchers
It left the park so fast, it was hard to tell what had happened.
When Detroit Tigers catcher Jake Rogers jumped on the first pitch he saw — a low, 92 mph four-seam fastball — in the third inning of Sunday’s game against the L.A. Angels in Anaheim, California, the ball zipped seemingly on a line the opposite way at 100.9 mph. A second later, it was dropping to the warning track, after bouncing off the wall above the yellow line that denotes a home run on the high right-field fence at the Big A.
The homer was Rogers’ second of the game, his third of the series vs. the Angels and his 19th of 2023, in his 99th game played as well as the Tigers’ 149th. That 19-homer total is a career high for Rogers in any season, majors or minors. But it was more than that.
For the 28-year-old Texan — who before this season might as well have had a middle name of “Justin Verlander” for how often his name came up in reference to the 2017 trade that brought him to Detroit and sent that other guy to Houston — it was another taste of success after missing all of last season (while J.V. was winning another Cy Young Award) rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
“I’m glad to be back and healthy and playing every day,” Rogers told reporters Sunday. “That was the main goal. I put together some productive at-bats and I’m proud of myself for doing it. Hopefully I can keep rolling these last two weeks.”
(In case you missed Sunday’s game, in an understandable post-Lions stupor, you can relive the victory — the Tigers’ fourth straight — here, as chronicled by the Freep’s Evan Petzold.)
Indeed, the Tigers have 13 games remaining — seven this week in Los Angeles and Oakland, followed by six next week in Detroit — and while Rogers won’t play in them all, he’s likely to play in the majority, giving him a shot at joining an exclusive club among Tigers.
Hello, and welcome to the Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood Newsletter!
Y’see, just five Detroit catchers (counting players with at least 80% of their appearances as a backstop) have hit 20 homers in a season, for a total of 12 seasons — and none have done it since Mickey Tettleton hit 31 back in 1991.
A few have come close since “Froot Loops” hit No. 20 off Texas lefty John Barfield on July 27, 1991, though.
Iván Rodríguez got to 19 in Game 158 of 2004, his first season with the Tigers. But Pudge played just two of the final four games, going 1-for-8 with a double. Alex Avila smacked No. 19 in Game 149 — just like Rogers — of 2011 (his lone All-Star season). He appeared in all of the Tigers’ final 13 games but went 9-for-39 (.231) — hitting two doubles and seven singles. Since Avila, though? Nope. (Eric Haase hit 22 in 2021 but caught in barely 65% of his appearances — and only 12 of those homers came as a catcher.)
But what about the catchers in the Tigers’ 20-homer club? Let’s take a (home run) swing down Memory Lane:
Mickey Tettleton — 1991
That was the last season Tettleton was primarily a catcher, as well the season of his career-high batting average of .263. He had two more 30-homer seasons with the Tigers, crushing 32 apiece in 1992 and ’93, but as he moved into his 30s, the Tigers moved him out from behind the plate; 1992 brought 40 starts at DH and 113 at catcher, followed by a 1993 that put him at catcher for 56 games, first base for 59, left field for 18 and right field for 39 (along with four DH appearances).
Matt Nokes — 1987
Nokes’ official rookie campaign (he played in 26 games with the Giants and Tigers in 1985-86) featured 32 homers in his age-23 season. It came as something of a surprise, considering Nokes had just 24 homers in his TWO previous minor-league seasons combined, though Nokes sounded confident in spring training, telling reporters in March: "I've actually found that hitting major league pitching is as easy — or even easier — than hitting minor league pitching. … Against most major league pitchers, you know they're going to get the ball into one of your hitting zones."
Manager Sparky Anderson was equally confident — though his prediction was a little less accurate: “Not only is he coming north with us,” Anderson said, "but he will be our starting first baseman in 1988." Instead, Nokes broke camp as the starting catcher in 1987 and hit four homers in April, five in May and seven in June en route to an All-Star nod. Nokes hit homer No. 20 on July 12, his last game before the All-Star break, then finished the season with a .251/.307/.4569 slash line. Injuries limited his production over the next few seasons, though, and in June 1990, the Tigers dealt Nokes to the Yankees.
Lance Parrish — 1980, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86
The Tigers’ “Big Wheel” topped 20 homers six times while sporting the Old English D, peaking with 33 in 1984. That age-28 season, however, was arguably his worst of the six, as he hit just .237 with 16 doubles. His best of the six was probably ’83, when he clubbed 42 doubles and three triples to go with 27 homers — his 72 extra-base hits that season are still a franchise record for catchers.
Bill Freehan — 1967, ’68, ’71
The Michigan alumnus certainly had a power stroke in those seasons, putting up 20, 25 and 21 homers to go with 23, 24 and 26 doubles, respectively, in an era when pitchers had the upper hand (and a 15-inch mound to throw off of in 1967-68, compared to 10 inches since 1969). He became just the second Tigers catcher with 20 homers on Sept. 15, 1967, in, huh, the Tigers’ 149th game. He didn’t hit another homer that season while appearing in 14 more games — the Tigers had a rainout to make up — but he hit .359 with three doubles.
Rudy York — 1938
York’s bat, which had produced 35 homers in just 104 games (mostly at catcher and third base) during his rookie season of 1937, had already sewn up a roster spot somewhere. But where? His natural position of first base was blocked by Hank Greenberg (who ended up with a pretty good 1938 himself — 58 homers and 147 RBIs).
And so the Tigers stuck York at catcher and put up with his defense, which featured an MLB-high 10 passed balls in 99 games behind the plate. But with a bat? York hammered out 33 homers, including 25 while playing catcher. His 20th homer of the season came on June 23, in the Tigers’ 60th game. Small wonder, then, that York made the AL All-Star squad, for the first of five times as a Tiger. He topped 20 homers in every season from 1939-43, but, thankfully, the Tigers finally found other spots for his glove.
Which brings us back to Rogers. Although his bat can’t match York’s, his glove is far, far superior. Rogers ranks fourth among AL catchers with five fielding runs above average (according to baseball-reference.com). That, too, is a fitting achievement for a catcher who, way back in 2021, told Our Man Petzold: “"I want to be the guy. … I just want to be that, you know, the Tiger way — come to the field, be a gamer and really pride myself on being an everyday guy. Hopefully, I'll get there."
(Head here to find out how Rogers developed his bat during the offseason back then.)
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Matt the Bat
Rogers wasn’t the only Tiger having a good week; on Thursday in Detroit, Matt Vierling launched his first career grand slam, and then, on Sunday in Anaheim, he added a two-hit game. This month, Vierling has a .318/.446/.546 slash line with nine walks and 16 strikeouts in 56 plate appearances. So what’s his secret? According to Vierling, via Our Man Petzold, it’s “getting loaded early” — in a hitting sense, of course. Head here to find out what that means for Vierling.
Big Mig
Also hot this month? Miguel Cabrera, in his final run as a Tiger. The 40-year-old is hitting .361 this month, with 13 hits (albeit with only one for extra bases) and riding a four-game hit streak. It’s probably only a coincidence that that streak overlaps with the downtown opening of a pop-up featuring food from Cabrera’s favorite Detroit eatery, “El Rey de las Arepas,” across Woodward from Comerica Park, right? Still, if you want to “eat like Miggy” before the slugger and the pop-up call it quits, you’ll want to check out this report from Our Man Petzold.
An Erie debut
September is also the month for prospects to end the minor-league season on an upward trajectory. Prospects such as, say, 2021 first-round pick Jackson Jobe? The right-hander, who missed the first couple of months with back issues, has rocketed through the Tigers’ system, resulting in a promotion to Double-A Erie last week. Jobe made his Seawolves debut on Sunday and, uh, it was pretty good: Four hits, no walks and no runs allowed with six strikeouts over six innings against the Richmond Flying Squirrels (the San Francisco Giants’ Double-A affiliate). Head here to find out what got Jobe speeding up the organizational ladder.
Happy birthday, Orange Bull!
While we’re in the minors, let’s wish a happy birthday to right-hander Spencer Turnbull, who turns 31 on Monday. The owner of the Tigers’ eighth no-hitter (back in May 2021) hasn’t had the easiest road back from Tommy John surgery, and a cracked toenail caused him to skip a couple starts for Triple-A Toledo. But Turnbull returned to action last week with a start against Columbus (the Cleveland Guardians’ Triple-A affiliate): one run allowed on three hits, two walks and 47 pitches, with five outs recorded — but four of them on strikeouts.
Other Tigers birthdays this week: Beau Burrows (27 on Monday), Mitch Meluskey (50 on Monday), Cecil Fielder (60 on Thursday), Aurelio Lopez (would have been 75 on Thursday; died in 1992), Hooks Dauss (would have been 134 on Friday; died in 1963), Joba Chamberlain (38 on Saturday), Nate Cornejo (44 on Sunday).
3 to watch
The Tigers have gotten younger at the big-league level, too; here’s a trio of rookies to keep an eye on this week:
SAWYER GIPSON-LONG: Start No. 2 was even better than his debut, with 11 strikeouts in Anaheim.
PARKER MEADOWS: September brought a slump for the speedy outfielder, and a new task — catch up to the fastball.
REESE OLSON: From Double-A to his third no-hit bid (of at least five innings) this season.
Mark your calendar (and set your alarm clocks)
As we noted earlier, the Tigers are wrapping up their final road trip of the season this week in the Golden State, with a three-game series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles proper (sorry, Anaheim) from Monday-Wednesday, followed by a four-game set against MLB’s worst team (at least until the Royals go on another bender), the Athletics, who already have 103 losses. But first up, it’s a slightly awkward matchup tonight — at 10:10 p.m. Detroit time — between lefty Eduardo Rodriguez and the Dodgers, who he spurned at the trade deadline. Even more awkward: E-Rod hasn’t exactly been sharp since July. Head here to find out from Our Man Petzold what the problem is, and how Rodriguez plans to fix it.
TL;DR
Of course (as longtime readers of this newsletter probably know), even if Rogers doesn’t get another homer this season, he’ll still be the Tigers’ leader in MARL: Mustache Above Replacement Level. (And that’s despite shaving it for a bit earlier this season.)
Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers Newsletter: Jake Rogers about to join elite club
