Josh Rogers set for second MLB start, plus other notes

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

September 02, 2018, 8:07pm

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KANSAS CITY - He had a winning Major League debut, one that featured a nice cheering section of family and friends on Tuesday night at Camden Yards. It produced a feel-good story as Orioles left-hander Josh Rogers, the kid from a small town in Indiana, won on the big stage.

Using a two and four-seam fastball on 53 of his 85 pitches that ranged from 90 to 92 mph, Rogers beat Toronto 12-5 in his debut. Over five innings he gave up seven hits and three runs with one walk and two strikeouts. He allowed just one run through four, but Justin Smoak hit a two-run shot against him in the fifth.

He attacked the hitters and as important as that was, he showed a calm demeanor and poise not often seen of a youngster making his first start.

"You know he comes from a major baseball program, Louisville. He's pitched on Friday nights in front of 8,000 or 10,000 in regionals. That is an advantage you get with those guys. I thought he handled that part of it really well," manager Buck Showalter said of the lack of nerves Rogers outwardly showed against the Blue Jays.

"He'll pitch on the road against another good club vying for the playoffs. It's another good scenario to watch a young pitcher in and I'm anxious to see him pitch in that environment. Things you ask major league pitchers to do - pitch on the west coast, pitch on the road. Just another thing, not so much to evaluate, as much as to give him that experience and see how he responds to it," said the skipper.

Rogers was acquired by the Orioles July 24 in the deal that sent Zach Britton to the New York Yankees. Between two teams in the Triple-A International League this year (Scranton and Norfolk), he went 8-9 with a 3.54 ERA. He allowed one run or none in three of his five Norfolk starts, going 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA before he got the call to Baltimore.

I asked Rogers how he was able to be so composed on Tuesday night?

"Just trying to take my confidence into it," he said. "I felt like I belong and deserve to be there. I was super excited and the adrenaline was going a little bit. To be able to lock it in and find a peace - it was just me and catcher. That was the only thing to think about.

"I try to be confident and I think that was a huge thing. Just talking to a lot of guys in my other organization, you see guys come up and down that didn't have any confidence. You know that shows in the results. Just to have confidence, not a cockiness, feel like you are supposed to be here and can go a long way. Hope to do even better in Seattle."

After his Tuesday start, Rogers mentioned that the sports bars were humming back in his hometown of New Albany, Indiana - a community of about 36,000 according to the 2010 census.

"It is a small town in southern Indiana. It's about 15 minutes from Louisville, Kentucky. I grew up there and played Little League baseball there and college ball at Louisville. Always been close to home. It is really neat to have a following there and the support from those people. I have a lot of friends and family at home and a lot of little kids that watch. That's a humbling thing to try and set an example for those kids. It is all really special," Rogers said of the support.

More notes from Kansas City:

* The Orioles bullpen had a rough weekend as the O's lost 9-1 yesterday and got swept three in a row by the Royals. In the three games, the 'pen allowed 11 runs and 12 hits over 9 2/3 innings. The bullpen allowed five of the nine runs in Friday's loss, Mychal Givens gave up the walk-off homer Saturday and Mike Wright Jr. allowed four runs in the eighth on Sunday. The O's bullpen had allowed just two runs over 10 1/3 when the Orioles swept Toronto in the series before this one.

* In the three-game sweep of the Blue Jays, the Orioles batters produced 29 runs on 41 hits and went 18-for-38 (.474) with runners in scoring position. The last three games, O's batters produced seven runs on 23 hits and went 1-for-11 (.091) with runners in scoring position.

* Jonathan Villar hit a 415-foot homer to left in the first inning Sunday for the Orioles' only run. It was his 11th home run between two teams. Villar hit six homers in 87 games with Milwaukee where he averaged a home run every 42.8 at-bats and had a slugging percentage of .377. He has hit five homers in 29 games and 115 at-bats with the Orioles for an average of a homer every 23 at-bats and his slugging percentage is .409.

* The Orioles feel that Chris Davis is finally making at least some small progress at bat. He went 2-for-3 with two singles yesterday. He's batting .316 (12-for-38) his past 10 games and his average is .286 (18-for-63) since Aug. 14. Before the All-Star break Davis hit .158 with an OPS of .506. Since the break those numbers are .220 and .709.

"Chris has been in a good place for a while, he really has, as far as he's going to have a game that may not look good statistically, but as far as his approach and all the things that we get to see that y'all don't see. He's in as good a place I think as he's been all year. He's been fun to watch," Showalter said.

* Double-A Bowie left-hander Keegan Akin was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Year on Sunday. He has gone 14-7 with an ERA of 3.27 in 25 starts this year, allowing one earned run or less 10 times. Akin is the first Bowie hurler to take the Eastern League pitching honor since Brad Bergesen in 2008.

The 23-year old leads the Eastern League in wins, strikeouts (142), batting average against (.225), and leads all starting pitchers in strikeouts per nine innings (9.28). He is also ranked among the league leaders in games started (25-tied 2^nd), ERA (3rd), innings pitched (137 2/3-5^th), and WHIP (1.25-6^th).

* Short season Single-A Aberdeen named first baseman J.C. Escarra its team MVP. In 50 games, the 23-year-old lefty batter hit .331/.419/.514 with 10 doubles, two triples, six homers, 33 RBIs and an OPS of .933.

Escarra, drafted in the 15th-round last year out of Florida International, hit .362 in 27 games in August. He was also named a midseason New York-Penn League All-Star.