BA Interview with Mark Rogers

With the Sea Dogs rained out yesterday and no transactions to talk about, I looked around for a topic for today’s post. Fortunately Baseball America came through with an interview with Harpswell native Mark Rogers, who is currently toiling for the West Virginia Power, Milwaukee’s low-A entry in the South Atlantic League. Rogers recently earned his first professional win, and is improving following a rough start to the season. His primary focus, however, is getting consistent with his mechanics, which will help him succeed as he advances through the system.

Last year in the short-season Arizona Rookie League Rogers pitched 26.2 innings with a very good 35/14 K/BB ratio, however he allowed 30 hits for a 1.65 WHIP and 4.72 ERA. This season his hit rate is down (61 in 68.3 innings), but his walk rate is up, so his WHIP is still pretty high at 1.54, though he continues to strike batters out (78 on the season) with his upper-90’s heat. Given that he’s working on his mechanics and developing his repertoire of pitches – he could dominate high school batters with his fastball and an average curve ball – I’d rather see the walks than a lot of hits. I think that the control will come over time.

Rogers is still a raw prospect, but he has a lot of physical gift. Lots of kids who come to the minor leagues with big fastballs can’t get enough together to make it to the show. Rogers seems like an intelligent and mature young man, so I have hopes for him. If he gains command of his considerable stuff, he could be a top-line starter in the big leagues some day. Best of luck to him!