Yahoo Finance ‘Crushing calories’ and improving slider: How Marlins’ Trevor Rogers prepared for 2021
Trevor Rogers had a pair of items on his checklist heading into spring training as he followed up on an major-league debut that had mixed results but showed plenty of promise.
The first: He wanted to gain weight and add to his 6-5 frame. Rogers said he gained about 5 to 7 pounds since the 2020 season ended and he’s hovering around 220 pounds, which is where he wants to be for the season.
That meant eating more — pizza and pasta were his go-to meals in addition to protein shakes while “incorporating some healthy stuff in between that” — and less long-distance running.
“Just crushing calories,” Rogers said, “any way I can. It’s not always good calories.”
The second: Tighten his grip when he throws his slider, his secondary pitch of choice and one he believes can be a top putaway pitch in his arsenal. It has been a work in progress since his time at the alternate training site last summer and he has seen progress, most notably that the pitch’s spin rate (which impacts the trajectory of the ball as it approaches the plate) is up to 2,400 revolutions per minute, which is about league average.
“If I can continue to keep that climb and have a little bit more sharpness,” Rogers said, “I think it’s going to go a long way.”
Both aspects of his development were on full display Friday when Rogers made his first start of spring training and his first case to stay in the starting rotation when the 2021 season gets underway. The 23-year-old left-handed pitcher threw a pair of scoreless and hitless innings in the Marlins’ 1-0 win over the Houston Astros at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Brian Anderson’s solo home run in the second inning accounted for the game’s only run.
Rogers had three strikeouts — all with the slider. Of his 29 pitches, 19 were strikes. His fastball sat between 92.5 and 96 mph, while his slider and changeup both were in the mid-80s.
“All my pitches were working and felt really good coming out of the hand,” Rogers said. “The slider had a nice bite to it. I could throw it out of the zone. The changeup had good depth to it. The fastball was riding well in the zone. Overall, felt really good for the first time out.”
Rogers’ base numbers weren’t great in his debut MLB season — a 1-2 record, a 6.11 ERA, a .283 batting average against and 1.61 WHIP over seven starts — but the underlying analytics show he was better than the numbers show.
According to Statcast, Rogers ranked in the top third of the league among qualified pitchers in several key categories, including average exit velocity allowed (87.3 mph), strikeout rate (30 percent), swing-and-miss rate (30.1 percent), expected batting average against (.218, 65 points lower than reality), expected slugging against (.340, 164 points lower than reality) and expected ERA (3.53, more than 40 percent lower than his actual ERA).
“I think last year was really good for Trevor,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “He had some good outings and he got roughed up a little bit. He is one of the guys that’s got a good understanding of who he is. This guy’s gonna be good. It’s just good to see him take advantage of that time last year, put in the work during the offseason and be aggressive.”
Rogers, ranked as a top-100 prospect in MLB by both ESPN (No. 78) and Baseball America (No. 89), looked comfortable on the mound and made a point to attack hitters early, something he said he talked about regularly with pitching coach Mel Stotlemyre Jr. after making his MLB debut last season.
He recorded his first two outs with just three pitches — Carlos Correa flew out to Adam Duvall on the first pitch of the game, and then Myles Straw hit a ground ball to Jon Berti at second base two pitches into his at-bat — before his first real test. He needed nine pitches to retire Michael Papierski, who fouled off four pitches in a five-pitch span before whiffing on a slider low and inside for the strikeout.
“That’s when I have my most success, when I’m pounding the strike zone and going after them,” said Rogers, who struck out 39 batters in 28 innings last season over seven starts. “The first couple starts last year, I was more into the aspect of pitching to their weaknesses instead of pitching to my strengths. ... I’m at my best when I’m pitching to my strengths, letting my fastball work, flowing my slider off of that, lefty on lefty changeups. I did that today. The outcome was good.”
Mattingly also has specifically pointed out Rogers’ physical development multiple times since spring training began.
“We talked to Trevor this winter on Zoom going through stuff,” Mattingly said, “and I mean his neck, all of a sudden this 6-5, 6-6 body looks like it’s filling out. I think he got a lot out of last year and the experience.”
Rogers wants the experience to continue but knows it won’t just be given to him. Four spots in the Marlins’ starting rotation appear to be locks with Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez, Elieser Hernandez and Sixto Sanchez. Rogers projects as the front-runner for the final rotation spot, but Nick Neidert, Braxton Garrett and Daniel Castano are also in contention.
“The pitching depth we have in this organization is scary,” Rogers said. “It’s also great to have competition. That’s what you need to get better. You need someone to compete against. You’re rooting for them, but you’re also competing against them. This rotation that we have, with how young we are, we pitch our butts off. We’ve been called the young guns, and if you can go out and compete with the rest of them, it’s really, really interesting.”
