Even before Jake Rogers was a Detroit Tiger, the book on him was that he is a superlative defender with questions about how his bat will play at the major league level. We’re still not completely sure how things will work out offensively, but it’s safe to say that Rogers’ defense — once named the best in all the minor leagues — is as good as advertised.
That was on full display on Wednesday when Rogers picked off Seattle’s Mallex Smith at first base in a close 3-2 win.
Look, this isn't hard.
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 15, 2019
1) Don't run on @_JROG_
2) Don't think about running on him pic.twitter.com/ZZMP6XvCfG
Our friend Chris Brown (of Tigers Minor League Report) has consistently clocked Rogers at some utterly stupid pop times. While these seem to be inaccurate for reasons outside his control...
So I’ve been tweeting out absurd pop times for Jake Rogers lately...1.55, 1.65 and such. Statcast has him closer to 1.90. I’ve gone frame-by-frame on my videos and stand by my times. So, either there’s a grand conspiracy to deflate Rogers’ historic pop times, OR...
— Chris Brown (@ChrisBrown0914) August 15, 2019
...pop times under two seconds are still pretty darn good.
— Bless You Boys (@blessyouboys) August 15, 2019