Marlins cap Rogers' terrific rookie campaign

MIAMI -- Marlins rookie left-hander Trevor Rogers will not pitch again this season.

Rogers, who went five innings in Game 2 of Tuesday's doubleheader, originally was scheduled to start Sunday's 2021 finale against the Phillies at loanDepot park. Instead, Pablo López (right rotator cuff strain) will be activated off the 60-day injured list to open the game. Miami wants López to enter the offseason healthy and with peace of mind.

The Marlins debated using the 23-year-old Rogers in relief, but decided against it.

"If Philly was still in it and it meant something, then Trevor wanted to pitch," manager Don Mattingly said. "Our concern was breaking a starter routine at this point. They get their long toss, they're out stretching 30 minutes before the game. Now we'd be kind of asking him to do what he had to do at the All-Star Game, which is a little different: Just warm up and pitch.

"For a young starter in your organization, the position that we're in, the one thing that you would feel totally awful about is if something happens that day. You don't think it will, it probably wouldn't, but if something would happen that day, it'd be like, 'Why did we do that? That was so dumb.'"

A candidate for the National League Rookie of the Year Award, Rogers hoped to get the ball one final time, but he understands the thinking behind protecting him. Miami's organizational strength lies in its young starting pitching, and aspirations of contention are dependent on it.

This season, Rogers paced NL rookie pitchers in the following categories: ERA (2.64), starts (25), innings (133), WHIP (1.15) and average against (.218). He missed a month due to family health matters. Rogers, who is eyeing closer to 200 innings next year, doesn't anticipate changing his offseason routine.

"I think always the big thing is to get stronger," Rogers said. "That's probably the biggest thing for me is to get stronger, stay healthy. So those two things are probably the most important to me."

Worth noting
Jose Ceballos, who spent the season coaching at Double-A Pensacola, joined the Marlins' Major League staff for the final series. He is in his ninth season coaching in the organization.