Rogers caps solid June, but Marlins fall

PHILADELPHIA -- Marlins left-hander Trevor Rogers could very well become the first player in franchise history to win the National League Rookie of the Month Award three times in a season. Even with that kind of success, the development process doesn’t end.

Rogers capped another solid month and Adam Duvall hit a ninth-inning homer, but a late rally against the Phillies’ bullpen fell short in Tuesday's 4-3 loss at Citizens Bank Park.

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The 23-year-old Rogers gave up two runs on two hits to go with a season-high-tying four walks, a hit batter and nine strikeouts. He was chased with two outs in the sixth inning following Rhys Hoskins' solo homer.

“Probably just to really learn pitchability, and really learn just to expand the zone with two strikes,” said Rogers, who allowed a two-strike RBI single to Andrew McCutchen in the first. “I think I've kind of struggled a little bit with two strikes in general. Really expanding that zone, up and down, making quality two-strike pitches. It's something I've worked on in my bullpens, something I've incorporated a little bit more, really trying to focus on. That's something I'd probably take away from this month.”

Here is the breakdown of Rogers’ numbers by month:
April: 3-1, 1.29 ERA, 1.00 WHIP in five starts
May: 3-2, 2.34 ERA, 1.18 WHIP in six starts
June: 1-2, 2.73 ERA, 0.91 WHIP in five starts

In Tuesday’s loss, Rogers saw firsthand the challenge of facing the same opponent multiple times in a season. Hoskins improved to 5-for-11 with two career home runs against Rogers. McCutchen is 5-for-10 with two homers and two walks vs. the southpaw.

“First of all, you're looking to see how his stuff is holding up; his stuff's staying consistent and steady, where he's not showing any signs [of fatigue],” manager Don Mattingly said. “Making sure that he's not dropping his arm and all kinds of little things like that over the course of the season. But you're also making sure that he's paying attention to how he's pitched them before and how he started guys, how he's finished guys, making sure he's knowing where to go with certain guys.

“You see a guy over and over, but there's still going to be certain spots of the plate and how you're going to try to get the guy out in those areas. It becomes how you get there, how you start and how you finish. Are you keeping your mix? Making sure the guys are going back and forth where you're not staying on one side of the plate, not seeing it one speed. Those are the kind of things you look at. But he's got the weapons to be able to do it. Looked like his slider was decent tonight, his changeup was good. Thought his fastball was good. When he hits his spots, they just don't seem to do anything with it.”

Unfortunately for Rogers, he didn’t receive any help while he was in the game -- something that has become a trend for the Marlins. Entering Tuesday, Miami's "Big 3" of Sandy Alcantara (2.8 runs of support per nine innings, second worst in MLB), Pablo López (4.5, 19th) and Rogers (4.7, 23rd) ranked in the bottom 25 in terms of average run support. The Marlins have lost 10 of their last 14 games, scoring only 16 runs in those defeats.

Earlier in the day, Miami dealt injured outfielder Corey Dickerson to Toronto as part of a four-player trade. When asked whether the organization might use its pitching depth to try to address the offensive production, general manager Kim Ng hinted it's certainly a possibility.

"I would say, philosophically, I think as we go through all of this, in order to get something of value, you have to give something of value up," Ng said. "So given that we are pitching strong, of course organizations are going to approach us -- they have approached us. It is definitely an area of strength for us. And so I think we all have an understanding of that. In terms of gaining offense, yeah, absolutely. We've entertained a lot of different things, knowing that, again, we would have to give up value."