Rogers works to cut down on passed balls

DETROIT -- Rookie catcher Jake Rogers has had an immediate impact with the Tigers by slowing down the opponents’ running game. He has had a positive effect in getting strike calls on the edges, at least according to Statcast. The passed balls he has incurred, however, are an early concern.

When Matt Hall’s breaking ball dove off the plate and past Rogers on Friday night, allowing the Twins’ eighth run to score in a 13-5 Detroit defeat, it marked Rogers’ seventh passed ball in 22 games. Just three American League catchers -- Josh Phegley, Pedro Severino and Christian Vazquez -- had more passed balls entering play on Saturday, and all three had caught at least triple the number of innings Rogers has logged this season.

The Tigers are working on it, led by coach Steve Liddle.

“He’s too good [for it to happen], to tell you the truth,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said prior to Detroit’s 10-7 win over Minnesota on Saturday night at Comerica Park. “He’s got too good, soft hands.”

While Rogers is building familiarity with some of Detroit’s pitchers, which could explain certain situations in which he has been crossed up, Gardenhire believes part of it is also a matter of technique and situation. For example, Rogers caught Hall for most of the summer in Toledo, and Gardenhire called it “sloppy” for Rogers not to be able to block Friday’s passed ball in the dirt and save a run.

Other pitches have simply glanced off Rogers’ glove and skipped past him.

On the latter, there’s some belief in a correlation between pitch framing and susceptibility to passed balls. A catcher who can quietly move his mitt and catch the ball on the outer part of it while keeping most of his mitt in the strike zone to coax a called strike is also a catcher who could miss the ball.

On that, Gardenhire said, “his setup is different than what we’ve seen.”

While Atlanta’s Tyler Flowers leads the Majors with 16 passed balls, he also ranks second among MLB catchers with 12 Runs Extra Strikes, according to Statcast. He’s tied in that category with Yasmani Grandal, who also has seven passed balls. Vazquez is tied for fourth in Runs Extra Strikes with 10. But Austin Hedges, the leader with 17 Runs Extra Strikes, has only one passed ball.

There’s a middle ground there, and the Tigers are hoping Rogers can find it. He had 11 passed balls in 98 games caught at Double-A Erie last year, and 11 passed balls in just 43 games in the Astros system in 2016. But he had only five passed balls in 69 games between Erie and Triple-A Toledo this year ahead of his Major League debut.

Tigers trade Thielbar to Braves for cash

The Tigers have used a franchise record 31 pitchers this year, but veteran lefty reliever Caleb Thielbar wasn’t one of them, stashed at Triple-A Toledo all season. Ironically, that opened the door for him to join a contender; Detroit traded the 32-year-old Thielbar to Atlanta on Friday for cash considerations.

Thielbar was eligible to be traded in August, a month after the Trade Deadline, because he isn’t on a 40-man roster and hasn’t pitched in the Majors this season. He would be eligible to pitch in the postseason with the Braves, who acquired him for relief depth.

Though Thielbar hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2015 with the Twins, he revived his career after signing with the Tigers out of independent ball last year. He bounced between Toledo and Double-A Erie last season, then became a mainstay in the Mud Hens’ bullpen this year, tossing 76 1/3 innings over 50 appearances.

Thielbar allowed 28 earned runs on 74 hits with the Hens this year, but his swing-and-miss rate has been his biggest improvement, with 92 strikeouts against just 16 walks. Still, he never got the call from the Tigers.

“It’s always roster stuff when you get into situations like that,” said Gardenhire, who managed Thielbar for parts of two seasons with the Twins. “I know Caleb really well.”

Likewise, Thielbar was not expected to be a September callup. Unless he was added to the 40-man roster, he would be a Minor League free agent at season’s end. Given that likelihood, the Tigers acquired what they could for him while allowing him to join a contending team that might call him up if it needs lefty relief depth.

Quick hits

• Tigers Minor League catcher Chace Numata remained hospitalized Saturday with head injuries suffered in a reported skateboarding accident early Friday morning.

• Miguel Cabrera returned to the lineup Saturday after missing three games with left bicep tightness, though Gardenhire suggested the soreness was closer to the shoulder area.