Jake Rogers, back after missing a year, is closing in on Tigers' second catcher job

Fort Myers, Fla. — Watching Jake Rogers and Grayson Greiner share a hug and chop it up a bit before the start of the game, it was like going back to the spring of 2021.

That was manager AJ Hinch’s first year, and he declared an open competition for the backup catcher job. They were the two main combatants, along with veteran Dustin Garneau and a local kid named Eric Haase. Greiner ended up winning the battle that spring, though Haase and Rogers would end up handling most of the catching during the season.

Flash ahead to Sunday, and Rogers is again fighting for the Tigers’ backup spot, while Greiner is trying to win a spot with the Twins.

“Now, I’ve got a mustache and he’s got a lumberjack beard,” Rogers said, laughing. “He’s good people. It was good to see him.”

Rogers took a big step toward winning his roster spot in the Tigers’ 6-2 Grapefruit League loss to the Twins. He hit his third homer of the spring, whacking a 2-2 four-seam fastball from right-hander Pablo Lopez 415 feet to center field.

Lopez had dispatched the first eight hitters before Rogers got him. Rogers also doubled and threw out pinch-runner Willie Joe Garry, Jr. trying to steal second base.

“I’m feeling real comfortable,” said Rogers, who is back after missing last season to Tommy John surgery. “Everything was just about getting timing back and seeing what it looked like in games. They (the hitting coaches) have goals for me and we’re working on it.”

One of those goals is to stay on top of elevated fastballs, a trouble spot for him back in 2019 and 2021 because of the extreme launch angle of his swing (27 degrees in 2021). Encouraging, then, that two of his homers have come off elevated fastballs.

“I’m working on it,” he said. “I get under the ball a lot, so I’ve been trying to get through the zone and on top a little more on the four-seams. Feels like I’m doing really well.”

The arm strength behind the plate might not be all the way back after surgery, but his quickness and accuracy seem to be.

“Even before the surgery, I didn’t know how hard I threw it down there,” Rogers said. “As long as I’m getting the ball out quick — I’ve always been really quick — and accurate. That’s what I’ve always tried to be. I try to put it on the bag every time.”

His pop time to second base in 2021 was 1.94 seconds, which ranked in the top 74 percentile in baseball.

“He can make all the throws,” manager AJ Hinch said. “He’s fully fine. His timing has been good. Even on that ball today. He had to hurry and he one-hopped it to second. You can’t tag the runner if the ball is in center field and over the shortstop’s head — so he had the right sightline.

“It’s just nice to see him playing baseball.”

The other good thing Rogers did, which is his forte behind the plate, was guide young lefty starter Joey Wentz through three innings.

Wentz was a little wobbly out of the gate, losing a lot of his fastballs to the arm side, especially when he was throwing his four-seam. He fell behind all three hitters in the first, walking Carlos Correa but erasing him on a 6-4-3 double-play.

In the second, he fell behind Joey Gallo, 3-1, and challenged him with a fastball. Wentz didn’t get that ball back. It landed in the right-field seats. Rogers made a mound visit, told him he was flying open with his shoulder a little bit and got him settled back in.

After allowing a double to Max Kepler, Wentz struck out Michael A. Taylor with a heater and then punched out Ryan Jeffers with a changeup. Rogers never stopped calling for the four-seamer.

“His fastball jumps,” Rogers said. “It comes out of his hand pretty good and he’s got a lot of extension. I liked the way he was getting it in on guys. He was jamming guys all day. We mixed the cutter back-door with changeups and curveballs, too, but it felt like that four-seamer was getting in on guys, and I liked it.”

Of the 43 pitches Wentz threw, 22 were four-seamers.

“The only thing that gets Joey in trouble is the walks and falling behind guys,” Hinch said. “If we can get him to land the secondary pitches with the good fastball, he’s very effective.”

If the Tigers' presumptive starting rotation of Eduardo Rodriguez, Michael Lorenzen, Matthew Boyd, Matt Manning and Spencer Turnbull stays healthy, Wentz is probably ticketed to start the season at the top of rotation at Triple-A Toledo, and the first one likely to get called up when needed.

"I feel like I'm performing pretty well," Wentz said. "There's been positives to take from both my outings, and there's been things I can improve upon. There's going to continue to be stuff I need to do this spring and still get built up for the season.

"But, I feel good with where I am."

The bond between Wentz and Rogers is strong, as it showed Sunday. The two spent a lot of time in Lakeland rehabbing from their respective Tommy John surgeries.

“It's fun to see Jake playing well,” Wentz said. “Everyone knows he can catch, and now he’s doing damage with the bat, too. I'm really happy for him.”

There is a lot of spring left, of course, but with Haase expected to start the season as the primary catcher, Rogers appears to be pulling away from Donny Sands and Andrew Knapp for the backup job.

Game bits

… Spencer Torkelson is starting to lock in, though his .125 batting average might not show it. He’s hit some hard and loud outs. But, Sunday he ambushed a first-pitch, 100 mph fastball from Jhoan Duran and blistered a single to right field. The exit velocity off the bat was 103 mph. “Tork has had some really nice swings the last three days,” Hinch said. “Sometimes, a simple single makes you relax and breathe a little easier. He’s had a bit of bad luck.”

… Riley Greene is not a fan of either ballpark in Fort Myers. Back at Hagerty High School, his teams lost the Florida state finals in both the Twins’ Hammond Stadium and at the Red Sox's Jet Blue Stadium, where the Tigers play Monday. Greene ripped an opposite-field RBI double in the third inning, scoring Akil Baddoo from first base.

… Right-hander Rony Garcia had a worrisome inning. His fastball velocity, normally 92-93 mph, sat at 89. He gave up a long home run to Max Kepler. The ball traveled 426 feet and cleared the stadium in right field. “No one has reported anything (physically wrong),” Hinch said. “We have to get him moving faster. He was 1.6 (seconds) to home plate and they started to run the bases.”

… Right-hander Alex Faedo will also have better days. He gave up four hits and three runs, including a two-run homer to minor-league camper Dalton Kelly, recording just two outs before being removed.

Twitter: @cmccosky