DETROIT — In the ninth inning Monday, Detroit Tigers catcher Jake Rogers approached his manager.
“Are you going to hit for me?” he asked.
“No, it’s your at-bat,” A.J. Hinch said.
“Sweet,” Rogers replied, per Hinch. “It’s (Emmanuel) Clase. Thanks.”
Don’t mistake the comment for a lack of confidence. Don’t glance at the oddball mustache and assume Rogers is as one-dimensional as the character he’s sometimes playing. The one-liners and the funny gait and the self-deprecation are real. The coyote skin cap that hangs in his locker is merely a prop. Rogers is loose and hilarious, sure. He’s also an integral part of the Tigers’ competitive engine. For proof, simply look at what happened when he stepped to the plate against Clase with two outs. He took a first-pitch cutter from the game’s most dominant closer.
“That was nasty,” he said to himself. The next pitch was another cutter that leaked over the plate. Rogers smashed a low liner that zoomed past Cleveland shortstop Brayan Rocchio at 101 mph. Rogers’ hit led to a Trey Sweeney single, which led to Kerry Carpenter’s definitive three-run blast.
After the drama and the emotion, Rogers was cutting up again after the game. “If Rog can do it, anyone can do it,” he’s said repeatedly this year.
“Me getting that hit there, I hope that sparked a little fire under their butts,” Rogers said.
Rogers hit just .197 in the regular season, but do not let his batting average jade what he has meant to this team and this city. He was the player who first uttered the rally cry, “Don’t let the Tigers get hot.” That came in a postgame interview in July. By September, fans had the mantra on signs. By October, Hinch was recalling the line in a champagne celebration in Houston.
Rogers was once drafted by the Astros. His labels since then have traveled the spectrum.
The best defensive catcher in the minors.
A bat that wouldn’t cut it in the big leagues.
Tommy John surgery, then 21 homers, the last vestige of the Justin Verlander trade.
Over the past few seasons, Rogers worked tirelessly. He revamped his catching setup. He simplified his swing mechanics. The fool-hearted image too often obscures the drive that powered his long development. Now in his age-29 season, Rogers has actualized himself as a major leaguer. The bat is what it is, low average with occasional bursts of power. Rogers has also become a complete defensive catcher. His 13 defensive runs saved ranked third among all MLB backstops. Statcast rates him as a top-five pitch-framer. He threw out 25 percent of would-be base stealers, a great improvement from last season and a mark above the league average. His skills are best on display when he’s able to leap out from behind the plate and make an athletic play, like he did in the late innings against the Houston Astros in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, pouncing on a well-placed bunt from Jeremy Peña and firing to first.
Rogers served as Tarik Skubal’s personal catcher during a Triple Crown season. The two have a friendship that dates to the alternate training site in 2020. After brilliant starts, Skubal often gets asked about specific pitch sequences. He usually shrugs and says something like, “That’s a question for Rog.” Rogers serves both as Skubal’s sage guide and also the guru who assists in Skubal’s ritual start-day crossword puzzles.
“He brings the best out of me, personally,” Skubal said last month. “I think he gets the best out of all our guys. I think that’s the biggest compliment I can give him. I trust him fully.”
Catching an ace is one thing. Rogers has also served as the stablemaster behind Detroit’s pitching chaos, managing new faces and an array of arsenals with a trusted touch. Pitchers laud Rogers for his prepared game plans and his open dialogue. If a pitcher shakes, Rogers is always open. Afterward, there’s usually a follow-up conversation to break down the decision and swap ideas.
“He’s unbelievable at just reading the game, reading what the hitters have done early and also matching that with what your strengths are,” right-hander Will Vest said.
As good as he has become behind the plate, Rogers’ greatest value is still intrinsic. For all Riley Greene’s dugout enthusiasm and Matt Vierling’s steady leadership, Rogers may be the Tigers’ most important behind-the-scenes player.
“He’s a glue guy,” Vierling said. “When he’s on the field he’s stoic, but when he’s in the locker room he’s not — he’s anything but.
“Without him, I really don’t think we’re here right now.”
Now playing in October, Rogers’ importance is showing more than ever. He’s guiding pitchers and fooling batters with his game calling. He’s displayed more of that calm presence on the field and the jovial persona off it. To be clear, Rogers is capable of feeling tension. Before games, pitching coach Juan Nieves will often ask Rogers if he is nervous.
“Yeah,” Rogers always tells him.
“OK, good,” Nieves says in response.
But if ever a young team needed someone to help calm the nerves as a whole, Rogers has been the guy. “I think the best thing about Rog,” Vest said, “is just his ability to keep things light.”
This wide-ranging package has led to a new label: A cult hero in Detroit. Teammates love him for his candor. Fans have come to embrace him for his personality and, of course, the mustache. Rogers was working with a well-groomed full beard at one point this season. Slumping badly, he shaved it before the Tigers’ game on Aug. 13 and reverted to the mustache. Rogers drove in seven runs that night. The Tigers are 34-14 ever since.
Hinch once shook his head at the eccentric look. But even the clean-cut manager has come around. He now says he has grown to love the ’stache. In Detroit, he is not alone.
“Winning,” Hinch said the day after the Tigers clinched their postseason spot, “changes everything.”
(Top photo of Jake Rogers: Thomas Shea / Imagn Images)
