A.J. Hinch is very tough on Detroit Tigers catchers. But Jake Rogers proves it's working

You wanna play catcher for Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch?

Are you sure?

“He's very critical with everything,” Jake Rogers said with a smile. “He notices everything.”

This is both the blessing and curse of playing catcher under Hinch, a former catcher who caught 338 games in the big leagues.

Hinch demands excellence of his catchers, so you are gonna improve — or not last very long.

But nothing gets by him, which can be a royal pain in the butt.

When Rogers comes out of the game, Hinch will hit him with questions:

Why did you call that pitch?

What were you thinking?

Did you consider this or that?

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“As a player, you always have to be ready to answer that question,” Rogers said. “But at the same time, we're all trying to win; and we've gone through a lot together.”

Sometimes, in the emotion of the moment, it can get heated.

“He might come at me, or I go at him or whatever,” Rogers said.

But it’s not out of disrespect.

It’s the exact opposite, really.

It’s old-school coaching.

“He and I have a close relationship,” Hinch said of Rogers. “I can push him like a son, and he can be coached hard. You can really lean on him to get better in different areas and he responds.”

It stems from a close relationship and mutual respect.

“The next day, we'll have a meeting in his office and just be like a normal conversation,” Rogers said. “I'll tell him what I was thinking; he'll tell me what he was thinking and then we both grow.”

Yes, Rogers has grown working under Hinch, and it came into focus in one inning of one game near the end of spring training.

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Seeing progress in one inning

Early Tuesday evening, as the Tigers played the Philadelphia Phillies in Lakeland, Jack Flaherty was on the mound, Rogers was catching and Johan Rojas, the Phillies centerfielder, was at the plate. Rojas hit a dribbler down the third baseline but Rogers sprang toward the ball like a cat, scooped up the ball, spun around and fired Rojas out at first base.

You gotta be prepared to play catcher under Hinch. You gotta take charge and Rogers certainly did that.

In that same inning, with former Tiger Nick Castellanos in the batter’s box, Rogers called for a slider, which appeared to arrive below the strike zone. But Rogers snatched the ball and a perfect frame turned it into a strike.

It was a small thing that was actually a huge thing.

On the next pitch, Rogers blocked a ball in the dirt, sprang up, grabbed the ball and threw out Whit Merrifield, who was trying to advance to second.

Inning over — Rogers walked toward the dugout and fist-bumped Hinch.

In that small snapshot, Rogers showed off his athleticism, framing ability, tremendous arm, creative pitch calling and toughness — he also took a foul ball off his face mask.

But there was something more.

Something far more important.

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A short time later, Hinch was on Bally Sports Detroit with Jason Benetti, the new Tigers broadcaster.

“Of the Rogers play off the tap of Rojas, his frame of a strike on the bottom rail, as you call it, and then his throw out of Whit Merrifield, which of the three impressed you most?” Benetti asked.

“I’m gonna go with D, all of the above,” Hinch deadpanned. “But I actually loved the pitch calling, which you did not give me as a possibility.”

Yes, Hinch is pleased with how Rogers is developing.

It starts behind the dish

What are the elements that make a good team?

Having a deep pitching staff, of course — everything starts with pitching.

Hitting — yes, that’s obvious. You can’t win without scoring.

And defense? Yep, no brainer.

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But drill down a little bit and Hinch will reveal something else that he believes is critical.

"When you look at good teams and teams on the rise, you have to have stability behind the plate,” Hinch said of the catcher position. “I think it's a very impactful position.”

Put another way: You aren’t going to be very good if you don’t have a catcher.

And the Tigers have two.

The Tigers have found stability behind the dish in Rogers and Carson Kelly, a 29-year-old who has spent eight years in the big leagues.

Kelly is “a very big part of what we're doing,” Hinch told reporters in Lakeland. “When I call it a catching tandem, I say that on purpose because he's going to play a lot and Jake's going to play a lot. Offensively, Carson is doing a nice job contributing something every day he plays. The stuff he's done behind the plate has been a very good step forward since September with (catching coach Ryan) Sienko. That's why we kept him. We feel like he can be a big part of what we're doing."

That’s a pretty massive compliment.

Because Hinch doesn’t gratuitously praise his catchers.

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Hinch and Rogers have special bond

While Carson basically just arrived — the Tigers signed him as a free agent on Aug. 19, 2023 — Hinch has had a long relationship with Rogers.

Hinch was in his second season managing in Houston when the Astros drafted Rogers in the third round of the 2016 MLB draft.

“I knew Jake as a young player, super young, when we were in a previous organization,” Hinch said. “There's something about being around a player kind of from the beginning, and then he's had to go through some adversity in my mind.”

The Astros, of course, sent Rogers to the Tigers in the Justin Verlander trade in 2017, along with Franklin Pérez and Daz Cameron.

Rogers is the only one left in the Tigers organization, and he has benefited greatly just being around Hinch.

“He's one of the best thinkers in baseball,” Rogers said. “That's what makes him good.”

They have so many similarities. They share a similar humor, see the world the same way and, actually, see the position the same way.

"I love the way his mind works,” Hinch said. “I love his personality. He can take it.”

When Hinch was a player, he was considered a good clubhouse guy.

And Rogers is considered the same.

“I think his maturation has been very important for the growth of our pitching staff,” Hinch said. “I think it's going to be even more important where he takes this now with his game calling and all the decisions that he gets to make behind the plate. It's a really important position.”

When you dig into reasons why his Tigers team has a chance to improve this season, it starts right there.

The Tigers have stability behind the dish.

And that’s no small thing.

Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him @seideljeff.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: A.J. Hinch has helped build catchers into strength for Detroit Tigers