Under the Radar: Taylor Rogers

[stringer bell]

For some reason, I'm a Taylor Rogers fan. Actually, I know the reason--he's a living, breathing left handed pitcher who has the ability to get hitters out. All the way back to Tom Burgmeier and including such notables as Gary Wayne, I have been a fan of lefty relievers. I don't think you can ever have enough, especially if they can get right handed hitters out.

 

Rogers came up in the disastrous 2016 season and has stayed on the roster since. Last year at the All-Star break, I was saying Rogers should be on the All-Star team. He had a great first half in 2017, but slipped noticeably in the second half. This year, he started slowly, but has pitched better and better as the season has progressed. He is much more effective against lefties with same-sided hitters posting only an .408 OPS, but he appears to be improving against right handed hitters.

 

In comparing stats for Rogers, except for ERA this is clearly his best year. His FIP is 2.47, his K's per nine innings is 10.3, HRs per nine .5, and walks per nine 2.3, hits per nine is 7.6 and his WHIP is 1.1, all of these are career bests. Rogers seems be getting more velocity this year--I've seen mid-90s heat and the curve ball is effective. He's not been injured that I can recall since coming up to the majors. With two plus years of service after this season, Rogers will be under team control for four more years. All of this makes Taylor Rogers a valuable member of the Twins, or any team that he is playing for.

 

I guess that setup men on below .500 teams don't get much ink. Still, I'm surprised how little attention Taylor Rogers has received, be it from media or the fan base that is Twins Daily. I see Rogers as being a piece to build around in the Twins bullpen for 2019 and beyond. There aren't many others on this year's squad who have performed well and received little attention. I was thinking of highlighting other players, but really couldn't think of any.

[USAFChief]

One of the few 2018 success stories. Very valuable.

[Mike Sixel]

Always argued he would be a good RP, glad they moved him there eventually. He should be good for awhile.

[Danchat]

He a had a small rough patch like many of the other relievers had, but he’s been mostly good this season. He’s a keeper. I wish more rookie relievers could latch on like did.

[yarnivek1972]

Rogers has allowed an .810 OPS to RHB. That’s a bit worse than the .766 he allowed last season.

 

He is what he is. He’ll likely have a long career doing it.

[jimbo92107]

I agree on Rogers, but I like some of the other relievers, too. I didn't like Moya at first, but now I'm starting to see a little Eddie Guardado feistiness in him. Moya's jerky pre-delivery makes it very hard to read his pitches, and his change up is getting better. Magill has a very live arm, but he has to get farther away from the middle to avoid those foul-off adventures. Last, Trevor May if he can stay healthy could get back into the mix, maybe even become the closer. 

[Thrylos]

Gets more impressive if you look at his splits this season:

 

vs LHB: 1.09 FIP, 0.81 WHIP, 12.0 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, .178 OBA
vs RHB: 3.78 FIP, 1.38 WHIP, 8.7 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, .273 OBA

 

He just needs a manager who can use him properly (which means very sparingly against RHBs)

[Brandon Warne]

The number are awesome and he's been really good of late, but he still just doesn't get enough righties out.

[Brandon Warne]

 

Gets more impressive if you look at his splits this season:

 

vs LHB: 1.09 FIP, 0.81 WHIP, 12.0 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, .178 OBA
vs RHB: 3.78 FIP, 1.38 WHIP, 8.7 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, .273 OBA

 

He just needs a manager who can use him properly (which means very sparingly against RHBs)

 

Just curious, how is this more impressive?

 

[Brandon Warne]

 

Always argued he would be a good RP, glad they moved him there eventually. He should be good for awhile.

 

Eventually? He made zero starts in the big leagues.

[Mike Sixel]

Eventually? He made zero starts in the big leagues.

He made plenty in AAA, while the team needed relief pitchers, even though it was obvious he'd never be a starter. So, eventually.

[Thrylos]

 

Just curious, how is this more impressive?

 

Despite his overall just above average performance, he is practically lights out against LHBs and his mis use against RHBs drags his numbers down.

[Brandon Warne]

 

Despite his overall just above average performance, he is practically lights out against LHBs and his mis use against RHBs drags his numbers down.

 

I mean his FIP is 2.47, so his performance has been well above average.

[Thrylos]

 

I mean his FIP is 2.47, so his performance has been well above average.

 

His FIP is 1.07 vs LHBs and 3.48 vs RHBs.

 

Draw your own conclusions

[Riverbrian]

10.38 K/9 for the season. 

4.46 K/BB for the season.

WHIP 1.11 

 

14.73 K/9 in the past 30 days. 

 

Right now... He sure looks to be a solid choice for high leverage situations.