Tigers call up C prospect Rogers

The long road to Detroit for catching prospect Jake Rogers ended Tuesday with an early-morning flight to the West Coast. The Tigers called up their highly regarded backstop for Tuesday’s game against the Angels in Anaheim.

Rogers, the Tigers’ No. 7 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, received the news Monday night from Triple-A Toledo manager Doug Mientkiewicz.

“Are you ready to be a Major Leaguer?” Mientkiewicz asked Rogers before Toledo’s game Monday against Louisville.

Rogers, who had been pulled aside into a tunnel beneath the stadium, knew he was hearing the words he had been waiting for. He just wanted to be sure.

“I was like, ‘Is it happening?’” He was like, ‘Yeah,’ and he gave me a big hug and said go inside, compose yourself and you can come back out,” Rogers said.

Rogers will be the first prospect from the Justin Verlander trade two years ago to reach the Majors. The Astros’ third-round pick from the 2016 Draft became the Tigers’ catcher of the future the day he joined their farm system at the end of the ’17 season. The Tigers are hoping the developmental time provides them the catcher they need to help lead them through the rebuild.

Defensively, Rogers has been ready for the Majors in some eyes since he showed up in big league camp last year. Pitchers up and down the Tigers’ system have raved about the way he calls a game, including top prospect Casey Mize’s no-hitter in his Double-A Erie debut April 29. Even veteran reliever Trevor Rosenthal, who pitched six games in Toledo earlier this month, had high praise for Rogers’ work recently.

Add in his strong arm and ability to control the running game -- Rogers has thrown out 25 of 47 would-be basestealers this season between Toledo and Double-A Erie -- and his presence behind the plate is unmistakable.

“I mean, to throw to him is incredible,” Tigers pitching prospect Kyle Funkhouser said earlier this month. “He’s one of the best, if not the best, I’ve thrown to. He handles most pitchers really well. He catches the low strike. He blocks everything. He throws guys out. It’s kind of the complete package.”

Offensively, Rogers needed time to complete the package, harnessing his physical strength and ability to think with pitchers into a consistent approach at the plate. It’s why Rogers was back in Erie to begin the season before being promoted to Toledo, and why the Tigers took their time on a callup.

“I get excited watching a guy play with all that talent,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said Tuesday. “And that is what I told him to just go play, do what you have been doing, and he will be fine. He knows how to catch a ballgame. The hitting part, we’ll see where he’s at and work on it if we need to, but first just let him get his feet wet and go. Just let him go.”

Rogers graduated from Erie in mid-May batting .302 (26-for-86) average, five home runs, 21 RBIs and a .963 OPS. He hit three home runs and three doubles with nine RBIs in his first eight games with Toledo, then slumped from there. Since his return from the All-Star Futures Game in Cleveland three weeks ago, however, he has shown a steady approach with results, batting .286 (12-for-42) with six doubles, two homers, nine RBIs and a .994 OPS for the Mud Hens over his last 11 games.

“Just getting comfortable man,” Rogers said of his recent offensive run. “Just getting in the groove and kind of getting out of those slumps as quick as I can.”

Rogers might have been an August or September callup under ideal circumstances, or at least sometime other than the middle of a West Coast trip. The Tigers’ recent struggles combined with their need for production behind and at the plate allowed the 24-year-old Rogers to knock down the door.

“He’s going to play most of the time, that’s a given,” Gardenhire said. “That’s why we brought him up here. I wouldn’t do it any other way. If you were going to have to sit two or three days … nah. He’s going to be our catcher and we’ll see how he does.”

The Tigers have received a .158 batting average and .488 OPS from their catchers entering Tuesday, both lowest in the Majors by a wide margin. Grayson Greiner, the 2014 third-round pick who began the year as Detroit’s primary catcher, batted .162 (25-for-154) with a .510 OPS before a back injury sidelined him. He isn’t expected back until late August or September after experiencing a setback.

For now, though, Rogers knows that the best place for him to start is with his relationships with the pitching staff.

“Yeah, it’s good I try to talk to them and see what they like and what they don’t like because some pitchers like some things and others don’t like that,” Rogers said. “So I try to talk to them, have a good relationship and gain that trust.”