Publicity stunt? Rogers twins so much more than that for Giants

This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

At the beginning of the offseason, Taylor Rogers sat down with his identical twin brother, Tyler, to discuss his preferred landing spots as a free agent. Taylor tried not to envision himself teaming up with Tyler in the Giants’ bullpen -- that possibility felt too good to be true.

But the siblings ultimately got their dream outcome after Taylor finalized a three-year, $33 million contract with the Giants last week. The Rogers brothers are poised to become the fourth set of twins to be Major League teammates and the first since José and Ozzie Canseco suited up for the 1990 A’s.

“I think the best part about this is we weren’t trying to make this happen in the beginning,” Taylor said during a Zoom call with reporters. “This happened because the Giants needed a left-handed pitcher. It’s just gravy on top that Ty is here, too. I think that’s what’s cool about it. It happened naturally. We weren’t forcing it.”

While their DNA is “99.9% the same,” the Rogers brothers are easily distinguishable thanks to their distinct pitching styles. Taylor is a hard-throwing lefty with extensive closing experience; Tyler is a right-handed submariner who tops out in the mid-80s but excels at generating soft contact and inducing awkward swings.

“I feel like if we double barreled in the seventh inning or something, that’s a pretty cool little deal for [manager Gabe] Kapler to go, ‘I could pick either of these guys,’” Taylor, 32, said. “This isn’t necessarily a publicity stunt. This is something that can work. I think this is something that will help us win games. That’s the coolest part about it. We can have fun, but I think it’s a competitive advantage, as well.”

Taylor logged a 3.15 ERA over his first six seasons with the Twins, though he endured a rocky 2022 campaign after being traded to the Padres prior to Opening Day and then again to the Brewers at the Trade Deadline. He finished with a career-high 4.76 ERA, including a 5.48 mark over 24 appearances with Milwaukee. Still, Tyler provided some much-needed perspective by reminding Taylor that he also racked up a personal-best 31 saves this past season.

“I was kind of putting myself in the dumps a little bit,” Taylor said. “Everybody’s been telling me down year, and I have to improve. And Ty told me, ‘Look, you need to have more confidence than that. If your down year is 31 saves, that’s pretty damn good.’ That’s what’s cool about Ty. We have that type of relationship. He can tell me things that either you don’t want to hear or you need to hear. I can trust what he tells me.”

Taylor described Tyler as his “No. 1 pitching coach,” though he said he’s looking forward to working with Andrew Bailey and the rest of the Giants’ staff to see if there are any adjustments he can make to get back to the All-Star form he showed with Minnesota in 2021.

Despite having 81 career saves under his belt, Taylor said his role in the Giants’ bullpen has “yet to be determined.” San Francisco already has a young closer in Camilo Doval, but president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi repeatedly said he wanted to add another high-leverage reliever to help ease Doval’s workload in the future. To fill that need, Zaidi ended up turning to a familiar face.

“It was kind of an interesting negotiation,” Zaidi said. “He didn’t want us to think that he would just sign with us no matter what, and we didn’t want them to think he was our only option, so we kind of danced around each other all offseason. But beyond the great story of these brothers getting to play together, which I just think is awesome, he’s really the perfect fit for our bullpen.

“He was our No. 1 relief target to start the offseason. It took a little while, but we’re elated to have him.”