Recaping Trevor Rogers' Rehab Assignment

What I saw out of the Orioles' southpaw during his start with the Baysox on Wednesday

*Cover Photo Credit: Grant DeVivo

Around lunchtime on Tuesday afternoon, I got a notification that the Chesapeake Baysox would have a special guest in the house for their Wednesday morning game against the Altoona Curve.

Orioles left-hander Trevor Rogers was scheduled to start on the bump as part of his rehab assignment for a right knee subluxation.

So, what did I do? I woke up early on game day, grabbed one of my box tickets, and made my way down to Prince George's Stadium to get an up-close look at Rogers.

The Chesapeake Baysox welcomed Trevor Rogers on Wednesday during his rehab assignment. Photo: Grant DeVivo

He had a decent lineup to face as the Altoona Curve lineup features some of the Pirates' top hitting prospects including shortstop Jack Brannigan and second base sensation Termarr Johnson. For what it was worth, Rogers did pretty well against the Curve.

It did not start as planned, though. Johnson took a first pitch fastball to right field for a single. Two pitches later, Bronx native Kervin Pichardo took another Rogers fastball well over the left field wall for a loud two-run home run. However, Rogers settled in quickly and got three outs on a Brannigan groundout and two called third strikes. He mixed in his slider and changeup more to induce those three outs, and he nailed the inside corner with the slider on the called strikeouts.

Rogers started the second inning with two groundouts. He ran into some brief trouble after allowing a walk and a single, which turned the lineup over for Altoona and sent Johnson to the plate. On a 1-0 count, Rogers missed with a fastball and left it near middle-middle for Johnson, who smoked it to right field but right at Luis Valdez for the third out.

Rogers then proceeded to throw a one-two-three third inning to cap off his appearance for the Baysox.

His final line read three innings of two-run baseball, as he limitted the damage to just that two run home run. He struck out three batters and walked just one while allowing four hits. He remained efficient, as 44 pitches through three innings is very respectable.

Overall, Rogers looked pretty good. He was most effective when he mixed in his offspeed and breaking stuff. His changeup sat around 82-84 MPH and dropped late and downwards, resulting in a lot of weak contact. The issues came with the fastball. When Altoona made hard contact, it was because Rogers was missing in the heart of the plate with 92 MPH. If the fastball is not the answer, then he will need to keep mixing in the changeup and slider to keep guys off balance.

Still, he looked good, and it was great to see him on the mound again. The Orioles are still depleted of rotation depth and seeing how well he threw on Thursday, the O's are going to need him healthy and potentially ready to contribute at the big league level not far down the road here soon.

The Baysox would end up falling to the Curve 3-2. Silas Ardoin had a massive day as he went 2-for-3 with two walks, a game-tying two-run homer, and a runner caught stealing.

It is yet to be determined if Rogers will need another start with Chesapeake or not.