Trevor Rogers’ shortest start of career puts Marlins in early hole in loss to Phillies
.JPG "Miami Marlins starting pitcher Trevor Rogers adjusts his cap during the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Saturday, April 16, 2022, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)")
Trevor Rogers pitched the shortest outing of his MLB career in the Miami Marlins’ 10-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday at loanDepot park.
The Marlins, who won the first two games of the series, fall to 3-5 on the season. The Phillies improve to 4-5.
Rogers, the runner-up for National League Rookie of the Year last season, was removed from the game after recording just five outs by the time he threw his 63rd pitch. He needed 40 pitches to get through the first inning.
“He backed himself into a corner in the first,” Marlins pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said on the Bally Sports Florida broadcast, also noting that “we do have some adjustments to make” and that Rogers “knows he needs to get ahead. ... We spend a lot of time talking about that.”
And then there was this from Stottlemyre:
“I think they recognized what was coming,” he said, alluding to but not directly saying he thinks Rogers was tipping his pitches.
In total, Rogers was charged with seven earned runs — including five of Philadelphia’s six second-inning runs — on four hits and four walks while striking out three, with his swinging strikeout of J.T. Realmuto to begin the game being the 200th of his MLB career.
Some of the particulars:
▪ Rogers did not get a single called strike or swing and miss against his changeup, a pitch that had a 33.7 percent whiff rate last season.
▪ His fastball velocity dipped as low as 91.3 mph as the outing progressed after topping out at 97.5 mph early in the first inning. Rogers attributed the velocity drop to the extended first inning.
▪ Three of the four hits against Rogers — a Nick Castellanos single in the first inning and second-inning doubles by Didi Gregorious and Bryce Harper — had expected batting averages of at least .710, meaning there was a greater than 70-percent chance each would fall for a hit.
“Had a really good start the first batter,” Rogers said, “and then it kind of just steamrolled after that. Got myself into a bind. ... Just nothing going my way.”
Jorge Soler broke up the shutout by swatting a two-run home run to left field in the fifth inning. Avisail Garcia added a solo home run of his own in the eighth. It was each player’s first home run with the Marlins.
Brian Anderson also had a three-hit game and Jesus Aguilar reached base three times (a single and two walks).
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Cooper hurt
First baseman Garrett Cooper was removed from the game in the fourth inning with a left elbow contusion.
Cooper and second baseman Jon Berti collided on a rundown attempt in the first inning when Castellanos tried to steal second base. Castellanos made it safely back to first while Harper scored from third base for the second run of the opening inning.
“Obviously that’s the elbow that he had the surgery on,” Mattingly said. “[Head trainer] Lee [Tressel] was just in calling it a contusion. Some soreness in there. We’ll see how he is [Sunday] and see where we go with that.”
This story was originally published April 16, 2022 at 9:34 PM.
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