Rogers ready for former team, catching up on Orioles' catching carousel

The Orioles haven’t announced their starters for the weekend series against the Marlins that closes out the first half, but interim manager Tony Mansolino confirmed that rookie Brandon Young gets the ball on Sunday, and left-hander Trevor Rogers is certain to face his former team the previous afternoon.

This will be a first for Rogers, taken by Miami with the 13^th-overall pick in the 2017 draft out of Carlsbad High School in New Mexico.

The Marlins dealt him to the Orioles at last year’s deadline for prospects Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby, who make their respective returns to Camden Yards this weekend. Stowers arrives as a first-time All-Star. Rogers was optioned after only four starts, against the Guardians, Blue Jays, Nationals and Mets. His five starts this year, spread out between May 24 and Sunday, came against the Red Sox, Rays, Rangers twice and Braves.

“It’s gonna be a little strange,” Rogers said earlier this week. “That’s the only team I was with for seven years and they gave me a shot, so I’ll always be thankful for them. A lot of memories, a lot of good teammates over there, a lot of good people over there. So I’m excited to see those people.”

Rogers was an All-Star and Rookie of the Year runner-up to the Reds’ Jonathan India in 2021, the height of a career that dropped him on his head – and down to Triple-A Norfolk after the trade.

“That ’21 year was special,” he said. “It really just showed me that I can compete with the best of the best, and the best league in baseball. That year was a lot of fun.”

The bad times rolled later.

Rogers’ ERA jumped from 2.64 as a rookie to 5.47 the following summer, and his WHIP from 1.150 to 1.505. He made only four starts in 2023 due to a biceps injury, and he had a 4.53 ERA and 1.528 WHIP in 21 games in 2024 before the Orioles acquired him.

His four starts with the Orioles resulted in 15 earned runs and 25 hits allowed with 10 walks in 19 innings, and the decision was made to option him and tackle the issues with his mechanics and his confidence.

A knee injury guaranteed that he wouldn’t make the club out of spring training, but the continued work with Norfolk brought noticeable changes, especially in fastball velocity. Rogers was throwing 88 mph at some points last year, but he’s been clocked in the mid-90s this season. And the outside criticism over the trade has lessened.

“That was probably the most frustrating thing for me last year is I knew deep down what I could do for this organization, and I wasn’t doing it,” Rogers said after tossing eight scoreless innings against the Rangers on June 23, resulting in his first win since July 26, 2024.

“I just put too much pressure on myself and self-doubt crept in and a bunch of other things. But I look back now and thankful for that. Really, I had to take a hard look in the mirror and figure some things out and just get better. I think the Orioles did an unbelievable job as far as the plan in place. Obviously, I didn’t understand the plan at the time when getting sent down, but I think we had a long-term plan here, and I think it’s finally coming to fruition."

Rogers has compiled a 1.57 ERA and 0.872 WHIP in five starts, three of them scoreless. He shut out the Braves for 6 2/3 innings on Sunday. Meanwhile, Rogers had three scoreless appearances among his 25 starts in 2021, none after April.

Comparisons between the two seasons flow like water from a hydration station. Rogers isn’t thirsting for them.

“I kind of separate the two,” he said. “I try to do year-to-year, be in the present moment. But as far as my stuff goes, it’s probably the best in terms of what swings the batters are giving off. It gives me a lot of feedback as far as my ’21 year and the way the ball was coming out of my hand. I’m very excited about that.”

* Today’s split-admission doubleheader ensures that Alex Jackson makes his first start with the Orioles. Jacob Stallings won’t catch both games.

Jackson has logged one inning since the Orioles acquired him from the Yankees this week for international bonus pool money and a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Home plate collisions aren’t as common for Orioles catchers as crash courses in learning pitching staffs.

“I think just having them catch new guys on a nightly basis, just having conversations on kind of what to expect, what pitches do they like, and what to expect as far as anything unique about each guy,” said Adley Rutschman, who’s on the injured list with a strained left oblique.

“It’s tough. Definitely hats off to them to be able to come in here and just be able to jump right in and do a great job. I think they’re both super professional and it’s been awesome having them around. They’re great guys, awesome to talk to and get to know, and they’re doing a great job.”

Stallings signed a minor league deal on June 24 and became the No. 1 catcher with Rutschman, Gary Sánchez, Maverick Handley and Chadwick Tromp on the injured list.

“With Jacob, just the mind-set, to be able to kind of walk into this thing and study our pitchers and learn our pitchers, understand what they do good,” Mansolino said. “He also has, I guess, like a built-in Rolodex of major league hitters already. He’s been in the big leagues for so long. He kind of knows a lot of the weaknesses on hitters throughout the league, ad now he’s got to learn how to match that with our pitchers’ strengths. And just his general intelligence and his understanding of the position is going to probably expedite that more so than a lot of guys in this business.”

* Left-hander David Peterson is starting Game 1 for the Mets. They won’t reveal the Game 2 starter until later, perhaps waiting to find out how their bullpen is used in the opener.

In case you missed it, Charlie Morton starts Game 1 for the Orioles and Tomoyuki Sugano starts Game 2.