Trevor Rogers and his wife Tessa had a plan that made sense for both of them. The Orioles’ left-hander would avoid social media during the summer, leaving her to take screen shots of various posts that put his outstanding season in its proper perspective.
Rogers described them earlier this week as “cool statistics,” which emanated from one of baseball’s hottest pitchers.
Tessa began reciting them about two weeks after the season, once they had settled back home. It felt to Rogers like she was talking about someone else.
"Just being so locked in, I didn’t really know how well I was doing,” he said Thursday on the “Orioles Hot Stove Show” on WBAL Radio. “I just know that I was throwing the ball consistently and I was kind of blown away, the names that were getting brought up. It was really special during that time.”
Rogers posted a 1.81 ERA in 18 starts and a career-high 5.5 bWAR that led the club. He was the first pitcher named Most Valuable Oriole since Rodrigo Lopez in 2002.
The names he referenced were much more impressive.
His ERA was the lowest by an Orioles starter in a minimum 100 innings in franchise history, ahead of Dave McNally (1.95 in 1968) and Jim Palmer (2.07 in 1972). It marked the third-lowest by an Oriole through his first 18 starts in a season behind Milt Pappas (1.77 in 1965) and Palmer (1.78 in 1975).
I wrote on Sept. 19 that Rogers’ 1.43 ERA was the lowest by any major league pitcher through the first 16 starts of a season since Nolan Ryan’s 1.29 in 1981, and it was the fourth-lowest in a minimum 15 starts since 1920, after Satchel Paige (1.01 in 1944), Jacob deGrom (1.08 in 2021) and Bob Gibson (1.12 in 1968).
Dwight Gooden was behind Rogers with a 1.53 ERA in 1985.
At one point, Rogers was only the second American League pitcher since ERA became official in 1913 to record a sub-1.50 ERA, sub-.800 WHIP, and 0/1 hit batters through 12-plus starts. The other was Walter Johnson in 1914.
“I can’t remember exactly what the statistic was, but Dwight Gooden was in that list,” Rogers said. “One of the best pitchers of all time. And even going way back with Walter Johnson. Just with me being in that list of names, it was special. To be honest, I’m still kind of blown away, where I ended up, to be honest with you.”
The presence on the mound was like a stranger to Rogers, who made four starts after the Orioles traded for him in 2024, registered a 7.11 ERA and was optioned. They kept him down to work on mechanics, but also his mind.
“I think the majority of my career I was just so focused on the statistical aspect of the game and not really diving into the present moment, the battle between the lines and in between the ears. And just being so locked in pitch-to-pitch,” he said.
“And to be honest, I didn’t know what was going on or how many pitches I had or how hard I was throwing, just because I was so locked in on executing that pitch at that time. I didn’t really care about anything else. And before I know it, we were winning some ballgames and I was throwing the ball pretty well. It was something I definitely hadn’t experienced before.”
Rogers had no chance to make the club out of spring training due to a knee injury and he was optioned again after the Orioles used him as the 27th man for a May 24 doubleheader in Boston. Didn’t matter that he tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings with only two hits allowed and no walks. He wouldn’t return until June 18.
Everything meshed for Rogers beginning with his start at Fenway Park. He felt it. Getting sent back down was inevitable and it calmed his nerves.
“Just go out there and compete, show them what I’ve got and rely on the mental skills training that I built in the months prior to kind of get me through it,” he said.
“I said in an interview after the game it was a big weight off my shoulders. Just to prove to myself really that I could still do it up there. And obviously we all know the rest of the story that was the rest of our year.”
Rogers probably will be the No. 2 or 3 starter depending on which move is pending from president of baseball operations/general manager Mike Elias. Framber Valdez or maybe Zac Gallen could push him back. One of the fallback options like Justin Verlander or Lucas Giolito – the Orioles have interest in the latter, as well, according to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman – could keep Rogers closer to the top.
He isn’t resting on 2025, saying that he still has something to prove. And he’s right, for the reason that he states.
“I had a good year really but it wasn’t a full season,” he said. “And I’m not really focused on having a better year. I’m really just focused on being consistent again and helping my team win ballgames. Just the offseason that we’ve had, we put together a really solid ballclub, and I couldn’t be any more excited to join the fellas in the next couple weeks and get this thing going and really help the team win some games so the city of Baltimore can be proud of it again.”
Rogers threw his first live batting practice yesterday at Texas Tech, the college he committed to until signing with the Marlins. He was fired up about facing hitters.
“Ramp up is going great,” he said. “The strength training’s in a good spot, my weight’s in a good spot. I haven’t really felt this excited to get going again in a really long time. I’m really just looking forward to being back with the guys again and especially the new staff, being back with Frenchy (Drew French), and Klim (Ryan Klimek) and Mitch (Plassmeyer) again, and just enjoying the journey again.”
Note: The Orioles released outfielder Hudson Haskin on Wednesday, per the minor league transactions page.
Haskin was a second-round pick in the 2020 draft out of Tulane University. Injuries slowed his development and he batted .246/.360/.382 in five minor league seasons. He played at four levels in 2025 and slashed .184/.290/.270 in 57 games.
Teams passed on Haskin again in the Rule 5 draft.
Double-A Chesapeake left-hander Walter Pennington also was released Wednesday. The Orioles selected him on waivers from the Rangers in April and 14 of his 18 minor league appearances came with the Baysox, when he posted a 2.60 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings.