Iron man Rogers on historic pace out of 'pen

SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants manager Gabe Kapler is mindful about monitoring the workloads for each of his relievers, but he recognizes that the same usage patterns might not necessarily apply to setup man Tyler Rogers.

Rogers, who is known for his unique submarine delivery, entered Saturday with a Major League-high 13 appearances in 20 games for the Giants, which puts him on pace to appear in a whopping 105 games in 2021. At that rate, Rogers would blow past the franchise record currently shared by Julian Tavarez and Jim Brower -- both appeared in 89 games for the Giants in 1997 and 2004, respectively.

The heavy workload is nothing new for Rogers, who also led the National League with 29 appearances in the 60-game campaign last year. It hasn’t taken a toll on his effectiveness so far, as he’s logged a 0.66 ERA over 13 2/3 innings and has developed into Kapler’s most trusted right-handed relief option in the Giants’ lefty heavy bullpen. San Francisco has also leaned heavily on closer Jake McGee, who is tied for second in the Majors with 12 appearances.

Kapler believes Rogers’ usage will normalize as the regular season wears on, but he said the fact that the 30-year-old throws underhanded could ultimately put less stress on his arm and allow him to bounce back better than traditional power pitchers. Rogers has averaged 81.8 mph on his four-seam fastball and 71 mph on his slider, but he uses his funky delivery to consistently baffle hitters.

“I just had a conversation with him about this, just gauging how the usage has been on him, how he’s been bouncing back,” Kapler said Saturday. “He says he’s been bouncing back great and feeling really good. We talked about what the optimal usage pattern is for him, and he’s like, ‘This is actually really good,’ and I think you’re seeing the results. I kind of agree with him. He seems to pitch better when he pitches more frequently and more regularly.

“That’s not to say that we don’t have to be cognizant of his workload. We do. That’s true for all of our relievers. But he’s a little bit different. You don’t have a lot of deliveries like Rogers’, so that means you don’t have a huge file and track record of how to best deploy them. But I think the most important thing that we can do in these situations is listen to the expert, and that’s Tyler.”

Does Rogers take pride in being the iron man of the Giants’ bullpen?

“Absolutely,” Rogers said. “I think it’s a way that I can show my value in this game, not being someone who is typically going to strike a lot of guys out or throw hard or do anything like that. I think me being able to pitch in a lot of games is my value and shows what kind of asset I can be for this team.”

Rogers said he goes “back and forth” on whether his delivery is less taxing than non-submariners, but he expressed confidence that he’ll be able to sustain his workload and stay healthy as the season marches on.

“There’s a lot of moving parts in my delivery,” Rogers said. “It could take more of a toll than someone else, but we’ll see. There’s a lot of resources here for recovery and keeping us healthy, so I think pitching at the pace I’m on right now is definitely doable.”

Crawford scratched, Vosler called up
Less than an hour before first pitch against the Marlins on Saturday, the Giants recalled infielder Jason Vosler from their alternate training site and placed left-handed reliever Jarlin García on the 10-day injured list with a left groin strain.

The Giants were in need of more infield coverage after scratching Brandon Crawford from their starting lineup with right quad tightness. Mauricio Dubón moved from center field to shortstop to replace Crawford, who also missed one game earlier this week with side tightness.

Crawford’s latest ailment is another blow for the Giants’ banged-up infield, which is already without second baseman Donovan Solano, who landed on the 10-day injured list with a right calf strain, and third baseman Evan Longoria, who did not start for the second consecutive game due to left hamstring tightness.

“We expect him [Crawford] to be day-to-day for a bit,” Kapler said of Longoria. “We’ll check in with him every day to gauge his availability to be an at-bat off the bench for us. The expectation is he’ll warm up, and we’ll see if he’s good to come off the bench.”

Vosler, who earned his first big league callup, was spotted taking ground balls at third base prior to Saturday’s game. He is primarily a corner infielder, though he has experience playing second and left field as well.