Lefty Trevor Rogers on the moment he felt he got his velocity back
Rogers has a 1.57 ERA over five O's starts
BALTIMORE – When this season began, no O’s fan could have predicted that lefty Trevor Rogers would have three scoreless starts among his first five outings of this year.
But he has done exactly that and today, when he faces his former Miami Marlins teammates at Camden Yards, he takes the mound with a 2-0 record and 1.57 ERA.
All this happening after he pitched to a 7.11 ERA after his trade to the Orioles last year and also after he missed spring training dealing with a right kneecap sublaxation.
He had felt he made lower body strength gains this winter at Driveline baseball which would increase his velocity and was anxious to see how hitters would react to that.
But, because of the knee issue, he didn’t make his season debut until April 23 in a Double-A game and his season debut with the Orioles came May 24 in a doubleheader at Boston. He pitched 6 1/3 scoreless and that winter work, it turned out, had indeed taken hold and worked out nicely. His lower half got stronger and that fastball velocity, which was 91.9 mph last season, was now around 93 mph.
He let a game at Tampa Bay get away from him and the team, allowing three runs over 2 1/3 innings. But in his past three starts he’s given up just two runs over 20 innings.
Is the velocity the biggest reason for his dramatic turnaround?
“At the end of the day, the way baseball is played now, velocity is the name of the game when it comes to pitching,” Rogers explained this week at Oriole Park. “It increases that margin for error. And it also makes the secondary stuff a lot better.
“For me also acquiring a sweeper, I really have full confidence in throwing it for strikes and getting strikeouts with it. So just having that velocity helps and sets up my secondary stuff.”
Even though he only has used his sweeper 6.6 percent of the time this year, opponents are 0-for-8 against it when putting the ball in play with a 56.3 whiff rate.
Those numbers say he should consider using that pitch more. Maybe we see more of it in the second half.
Around Christmas, Rogers could feel that his velocity was increasing and some things were looking good. But it was not until a bit later that he realized his velo was truly back.
“I went to Driveline in mid January for a bullpen session and it was kind of a velocity training day,” he told me. “And I hit 93 (mph) in January. At the end of last year I was hoping and praying to hit 93. So the fact I hit 93 when I wasn’t 100 percent in game shape, that was when it clicked for me. I really got that monkey off my back and said, ‘This is actually working. I was seeing it with my own eyes.’”
Rogers explained that when he regained some of that lower body strength, it allowed him to now make other changes that have also paid off.
“We fixed a couple of mechanical things also, because my lower half got stronger. We fixed mechanical flaws I had acquired not even thinking about it.
“I haven’t had this much confidence for a long time. I mean, I’m just so focused and dailed into my process. The numbers are real good right now, but I’ve played for a long time. There are going to be some bumps in the road. But that doesn’t change my process and the way I go about my five days.
“For the first time in my career I am not solely focused on numbers. I just have complete trust in my process and executing pitches and competing. I have simplified my mindset to that,” he stated.
And Rogers heard the criticism he got from fans about the trade that sent Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers to Miami for him last July 30.
“I wasn’t doing my job well and fans want to see this team win,” he said explaining he understood the fan criticism. “They have every right to do that. But in the back of my mind, they don’t know the true me. And I knew what I could do for this organization. It was in there somewhere. One day I am going to show this fanbase and prove this was a good trade,” he said he thought.
O’s win again
The O’s got the final series before the All-Star break off to a great start with Friday’s 5-2 win over Miami. Righty Dean Kremer pitched seven scoreless on 99 pitches to improve to 8-7 with a 4.24 ERA.
It was the second time in three starts Kremer had pitched seven scoreless. Over his past five outings, he is 3-0 with a 2.17 ERA. Over 29 innings he has walked six, fanned 27 and allowed a .604 OPS against.
The Orioles (43-50) have won three in a row and six of the past seven games. They are 27-16 (.628) their past 43 games, a 102-win pace.
The Orioles are 6-1 their past seven series-opening games.
I'm so glad Rogers got over his injuries and mechanics issues. In general I thought Stowers and Norby were too much to give up. But since they were both so blocked at their positions, it made the deal easily palatable. I'm really glad the trade is working for both sides. The Marlins may have other pitchers we want to trade for.
looking forward to a W from Rogers.....looking forward to Sundays draft, we have an opportunity to replenish the system with American ballplayers. I feel our best hitting prospects are now from the International talent we have secured. At least I hope so, because not much went well with the last college/HS draft, at least so far.