Taylor Rogers

teej · December 17, 2024

Taylor Rogers was born on December 17th, 1990 in Denver 30 seconds before his twin brother, fellow MLB pitcher Tyler. He played his high school ball at Chatfield High School in Littleton, Colorado and was drafted by the Orioles in the 37th round of the 2009 draft but instead chose to pitch for the University of Kentucky. Rogers played for the Wildcats from 2010 through 2012 and was a weekend starter for all 3 seasons. In summer ball his crowning achievement was earning the start and the win in the 2011 Cape League all-star game at Fenway Park. Rogers collegiate efforts resulted in him being drafted by the Twins in the 11th round of the 2012 draft.

After a few seasons spent climbing the minor league ladder, Rogers made his debut and went 1-2-3 on April 14th, 2016 in the 9th inning of the Twins’ 3-1 loss to the White Sox. An excellent debut that set the tone for his first few seasons with the Twins. His first three seasons for 2016-2018 saw a 3.21 ERA in 185.1 innings pitched across 198 games with 188 K’s, a WHIP of 1.171, and 2.9 fWAR/4.0 bWAR. He also had better run prevention numbers each season Starting with a 3.96 ERA in 2016, that dropped to 3.07 in 2017, then 2.63 in 2018.

Despite his success out of the pen the Twins had neither elected to move Rogers to the rotation or given him a shot at the primary closer job. That ended in 2019 as previous primary closer Fernando Rodney was dealt to the A’s in an August 2018 deal that left a void the Twins elected to fill in-house for 2019. Rogers had earned his first and second career saves in 2018 after Rodney’s departure in August 2018 and earned the job for 2019. He got to work immediately, closing out a 2-0 win over Cleveland with a four-out save that included 3 strikeouts and a weak Jose Ramirez flyout. Rogers' entire 2019 was excellent, he finished his first season as primary closer with 30 saves, tied for 9th in MLB, a 2.61 ERA, and 2.6 bWAR (8th among relievers in 2019). Not only had he continued getting better each season he recorded career bests in: bWAR (2.6), fWAR (2.1), ERA (2.61), saves (30), innings pitched (69.0), BB/9 (1.4), K/9 (11.7), and ERA+ (174). One final example of his great performance was his finish of 8th on the team in bWAR, a team that won 101 games! Unfortunately his, and the Twins’, season ended in game 3 of the ALDS to the damn Yankees with Rogers allowing an RBI single to Twins killer Didi Gregorious in the 7th that would prove decisive in a 5-1 Twins loss.

Rogers entered the shortened 2020 season entrenched as the Twins’ top bullpen arm but struggled in just 20 innings pitched. He did earn 9 saves and had a 2.84 FIP but his ERA and WHIP were an ugly 4.05 and 1.500 respectively. He pitched in both of Minnesota’s wild card games against Houston, pitching a 1-2-3 8th against the heart of the Astros’ order in game 1 but left Game 2 after allowing 3 baserunners without getting an out to cement a 3-1 season ending loss. Rogers had an up-and-down 2021, he was no longer the primary closer as the Twins transitioned to a more intense closer by committee approach than previous seasons. But he was named an all-star (as injury replacement for Yusei Kikuchi). However, his season ended just two weeks after the all-star game after he suffered a middle finger sprain against the Tigers on July 26th that ultimately ended his season. He finished the year with a 3.35 ERA in 40.1 innings pitched, 9 saves, 59 k’s, 0 HBP (the only season of his career he didn’t bean a batter), and a FIP of 2.13 that suggest he may have finished much better had he not missed the final two months.

That was it for Rogers’ time in Minnesota. He was dealt the day before Opening Day 2022 to the Padres with Brent Rooker for a package of Chris Paddack, Emilio Pagan, and rookie ball arm Brayan Medina. He pitched an uneven 41.1 innings in San Diego that saw him save 28 games but blow 7 saves and was dealt at the deadline to the Brewers as part of a package that brought Josh Hader to San Diego. He blew as many games as he saved with the Brewers, 3, and was granted free agency after the season. He went on to sign a 3 year 33 million dollar deal with the Giants and joined his twin brother Tyler in the bullpen where they have both remained for the past two seasons. He has faced the Twins twice, the first on May 24th, 2023 at Target Field where he pitched a clean 8th in a 7-1 Giants loss. His second outing added his name to a little bit of history as he allowed a 6th inning homer to Carlos Santana that earned Santana the distinction of homering in every active MLB park. Rogers remains in San Francisco entering 2025, the final year of his contract.

Sources Cited
https://ukathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/player/taylor-rogers/

https://www.collegebaseballdaily.com/2011/07/22/2011-cape-cod-baseball-league-all-star-game-rosters/

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/2019-pitching-leaders.shtml

https://stathead.com/baseball/player-pitching-season-finder.cgi?request=1&order_by=p_war&year_min=2019&year_max=2019&games_started=60&role=reliever&games_relieved=80

https://www.mlb.com/news/fernando-rodney-traded-from-twins-to-a-s-c289664222

https://www.mlb.com/news/inbox-who-will-twins-closer-be

https://www.mlb.com/news/yusei-kikuchi-replaced-on-all-star-game-roster

https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-taylor-rogers-named-winner-of-twins-2021-carl-r-pohlad-award-for-o

https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/mlb/san-francisco-giants/carlos-santana-home-run-oracle-park/1755664/

https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/april-11-2022-twins-tyler-and-taylor-rogers-pitch-in-the-same-game-as-padres-beat-giants/

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/leaders_pitch_50.shtml

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