Rogers, Kintzler and Cruz promoted to Milwaukee; Maine

[Mass Haas]

Peter Gammons on Mark Rogers

[monty57]

I keep reading quotes of Brewers staff saying Rogers will get starts "...as long as the game doesn't have playoff ramifications..." Who cares if the game has playoff ramifications for other teams? If we are feel that starting Rogers is the right move, we should start him regardless of who we're playing. If we feel that it is best for Rogers' development to come in from the bullpen this September, then fine, but keeping him from starting because you're worried that some other team will be mad at you for "not playing your best players" is a terrible reason for not giving Rogers more starts.

[DHarris34Phan]

I keep reading quotes of Brewers staff saying Rogers will get starts "...as long as the game doesn't have playoff ramifications..." Who cares if the game has playoff ramifications for other teams? If we are feel that starting Rogers is the right move, we should start him regardless of who we're playing. If we feel that it is best for Rogers' development to come in from the bullpen this September, then fine, but keeping him from starting because you're worried that some other team will be mad at you for "not playing your best players" is a terrible reason for not giving Rogers more starts.

I doubt we'd be "worried the other team will be mad" for starting a rookie, they probably would welcome it.

 

It's probably because we want to ruin another team's playoff hopes, and starting Rogers could possibly hurt our chances of winning.

[BrewCrewForever]

I thought it was reported a lock that Rogers would start one of the Florida games next week? I hope it is the 23rd since I have tickets for that game.

[battlekow]

What's already been a great year for Rogers will get even better on November 6th: he's getting married. It's in Boston; I wonder if Mass Haas got an invite?

[Thunnis]

Nice to see another good inning today!

[monty57]

I keep reading quotes of Brewers staff saying Rogers will get starts "...as long as the game doesn't have playoff ramifications..." Who cares if the game has playoff ramifications for other teams? If we are feel that starting Rogers is the right move, we should start him regardless of who we're playing. If we feel that it is best for Rogers' development to come in from the bullpen this September, then fine, but keeping him from starting because you're worried that some other team will be mad at you for "not playing your best players" is a terrible reason for not giving Rogers more starts.

I doubt we'd be "worried the other team will be mad" for starting a rookie, they probably would welcome it.

 

It's probably because we want to ruin another team's playoff hopes, and starting Rogers could possibly hurt our chances of winning.

I do think that part of the reason they don't start him against a playoff contender is that they want to beat the playoff contender for some display of bravado of being a "spoiler," I also think that they don't want the teams competing for that playoff spot to be upset with the Brewers for not fielding their 'best" team. For example, if we started Rogers and Rivas against San Francisco and they scored 12 runs a game against us, then San Diego would be mad that we didn't throw more experienced starters on the mound. There is probably also some desire to finish ahead of the Cubs and Astros.

 

To me, none of these are a compelling reason not to start Rogers if the Brewers believe that starting him is the best way to prepare him for the future. What does hurting another team's playoff hopes bring you in the long run? The only thing the Brewers should be worried about regarding Rogers is what is in his (and the team's) best interest for the future. If they believe that putting him in the rotation for 3-4 weeks is what would be best for the future, then I really don't care about "playing spoiler" or about what any other team thinks about us.

 

I can't believe that they think the best use of a young, injury-plagued arm is to juggle him between the bullpen and rotation, and tell him that he doesn't give them a good chance to win, so he can only start when games don't matter. Way to build up his confidence Kenny. Could it possibly be that Macha wants as many wins as possible in an attempt to build up his lifetime winning percentage for his resume, and he really doesn't care about the future of an organization he's probably not going to be a part of?

[hawing]

I also think that they don't want the teams competing for that playoff spot to be upset with the Brewers for not fielding their 'best" team. For example, if we started Rogers and Rivas against San Francisco and they scored 12 runs a game against us, then San Diego would be mad that we didn't throw more experienced starters on the mound.

I understand the rationale, yet I can't help but think, "Right, because Bush, Cap, Narvdog, Wolf and Yo are 100% solid and have never given up a bunch of runs this year."

 

Like monty57, I'm also wary of Mark Rogers receiving the Estrada/Loe/(probably others I can't think of offhand) treatment by getting irregular work - which you'd think would be the last thing his arm needs. Another reason I'm anticipating and ready for a change in field manager.

[monty57]

I understand the rationale, yet I can't help but think, "Right, because Bush, Cap, Narvdog, Wolf and Yo are 100% solid and have never given up a bunch of runs this year."

 

Exactly. If we had the Yankee's rotation, then I wouldn't care about getting Rogers any starts. Of course, if we had the Yankee's rotation, we'd be in the playoffs, but that's another story. The only people who should be assured of finishing out the year in the starting rotation are Yo and Wolf. I understand that there is a possibility of re-signing Capuano, and Narveson is still trying out for a spot in the 2011 rotation, but Rogers is a potentially huge part of our future, so we need to do what is best for him.

 

It is possible that they feel having him get a few innings and 1-2 starts is in his best interest, but it just doesn't feel that this is why they're making the SP decisions. Rather, it seems Macha's looking much more at getting an extra win or two this year rather than looking at what's the best plan for developing Rogers.

[Thunnis]

Thinking about tickets for the 24th,depends on the weather and if we can cross to the mainland

[Point Beer Is Best]

Hauricourt confirms that Rogers will start Friday against the Marlins.

[hawing]

Hauricourt confirms that Rogers will start Friday against the Marlins.

Good news for Mark and the Rogers family, and Brewers nation as a whole. Slight bummer for the hawing household, who has tickets for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday in that series.

[wibadgers23]

And of course I have to work that night. Hopefully they'll replay the game later that night.

[BrewCrewForever]

Damn, missed him by 1 day. I have tickets to Thursday's game. Which is okay I guess since Gallardo is pitching that day and I can watch Rogers on TV Friday in glorious HD.

[crewcrazy]

Hauricourt confirms that Rogers will start Friday against the Marlins.

My favorite part: "If all goes well against the Marlins, Macha said he’d probably give

Rogers another start in New York in the final week of the season."

 

Seeing two starts before the end of the year would be awesome, and if they go well, maybe he'd have a chance at winning a spot in the rotation out of spring training.

[BrewCrewForever]

It sure would be a glimmer of hope for our rotation going into 2011 if Rogers can have two solid outings at the end of 2010. He seems to be healthy now, he just has to have command. If he can cut down walks, he could be darn good.

[Funketown]

I'm still a bit sheepish about Rogers being in the rotation next year. If all goes well, I'd still send him to AAA for 8-10 starts next season. I'd rather not jump the gun on him, especially as next season will be a rebuilding year.

[Team Canada]

I'm still a bit sheepish about Rogers being in the rotation next year.

To quote Inigo Montoya, I do not think that word means what you think it means.

[Mass Haas]

Keeping the "Maine" part of the thread topic alive, this is indeed a big deal up there -- a bit of perspective.

 

There hasn't been a native Maine pitcher (someone who was born, raised, and pitched through high school there) since former Brewer Matt Kinney last saw big league action in 2005.

 

Before that, the best pitcher from the state ever, Bill Swift (NL ERA leader in 1992, then 21-8 in 1993 while with the Giants), ended his career where it began, with Seattle in 1998, with a 94-78 record.

 

Position players? The last position player who had more than three MLB at-bats was catcher Clyde Sukeforth, who ended his career in 1945.

 

Personally, I'm so pumped for Friday night, and I'd love to figure out a way to sneak to Citi Field next week, but I'll have to hope for a Fenway appearance by Rogers next Fathers' Day weekend.

 

***

 

Link while active, text follows:

Rogers always was special

By Travis Lazarczyk, CentralMaine.com

These are four of the coolest words in sports, if not the world.

 

"I saw him when ..."

On Sept. 10, Mark Rogers made his Major League debut for the Milwaukee Brewers, just over six years after he was drafted fifth overall out of Mt. Ararat High School.

Do you remember his first varsity start for Mt. Ararat, on April 30, 2001? It was at Skowhegan, and Rogers offered a glimpse of what was to come. As a freshman, he struck out 12 hitters and gave up just five hits. He still lost the game, however, 3-2, when Mt. Ararat allowed the go-ahead run to score in the bottom of the sixth inning on an error.

As of Saturday, Rogers had two innings of perfect relief on his resume, with one strikeout. He's scheduled to make his first start next Friday, against the Florida Marlins.

We knew him when, and for a time, we were worried that when was all there would be. Rogers underwent a pair of surgeries on his right shoulder and went almost three years without pitching in a professional game. In the summer of 2006, Rogers injured his shoulder pitching for the Brewers' Class A team, the Brevard County Manatees.

In January 2007, Rogers had surgery to repair a labral tear in his shoulder and tighten a loose ligament. In June 2008, he underwent more surgery, this time to clean out scar tissue in his shoulder.

Do you remember the beginning of his senior season? In his first start, in Bath against Morse, Rogers struck out 19 of the 22 batters he faced. It was a no-hitter. His next start, this time against Skowhegan, Rogers struck out 20 and gave up one hit.

Since Rogers returned to the mound last year, the Brewers have monitored his pitch count.

For his part, Rogers worked on his consistency. With millions invested in Rogers, Milwaukee added him to the 40-man roster rather than risk losing him in the Rule 5 draft, in which major league teams can claim a player from another club's minor league system, with the stipulation that the player is kept on the major league roster.

Do you remember the game in Waterville, in the rain? If it weren't for all the scouts and the large crowd huddled under umbrellas around Waterville's Gaul Field, the game never would have started. But it did, and when the umpires finally said enough with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, Rogers was working on a very soggy perfect game.

Do you remember the name of the pitcher who matched Rogers for scoreless inning after scoreless inning? It was Lawrence's Ryan Ackley, who gave up just two hits in 10 innings against Rogers. The soon-to-be first round draft pick went nine innings, struck out 22, and saw his team win 1-0 in 11 innings.

These are the four players picked ahead of Rogers in the first round of the 2004 draft: Matthew Bush (San Diego), Justin Verlander (Detroit), Phillip Humber (New York Mets) and Jeff Niemann (Tampa Bay). Bush was a bust who never made it out of the minors. Humber has pitched in 24 major league games for three different teams. Verlander is a star with the Tigers, and Niemann is having a solid season for the Rays.

Now we get to see where Rogers will fall. Will he be more of a Verlander, Niemann or Humber? He definitely won't be a Bush.

Do you remember his final high school game? The Maine Principals' Association moved the Class A state final between Mt. Ararat and Deering to Hadlock Field, home of the Portland Sea Dogs. In front of 7,000 fans, a week after the Brewers called his name in the opening minutes of the draft, Rogers struck out eight in 4 1/3 innings. He took the loss, though, pitching against a loaded Deering lineup which saw all nine starters go on to play college baseball.

When Rogers makes his first start later this week, cheer him on, wish him well, and try to pay attention to what we hope is a long career.

And tell all your friends, you saw him when.

[MLS1965]

And tell all your friends, you saw him when.

Well, I can't say I saw him... but I sure heard a lot about him. My long time friend from Maine was calling me in 2000-2001 saying " you need to fly home and see this kid pitch " My friend knows Mark's Dad and his High School Coach. Mark grew up just a mile down the road from my parents and we're both Alum of Mt. Ararat School....so yea.. I'll be watching this Friday night. I had the chance to meet Mark during his brief stay in Nashville this summer and I think it floored him to meet someone just a stones throw from where he grew up. Many may not know but Mark was also quite he hockey player too and a few thought with NHL potential. Well during warm up's Mark walked over to get a few baseballs out of the ball-bag when a young fan asked if he was " A hitter..? " The pitching coach replayed " No.. He's a pitcher".. I chimed in and added " I don't know....does hockey count..?" Mark looked at me, grinned and said " Ooooh Yea...!!!

[wibadgers23]

So is Rogers starting Thursday or Friday? Melvin said twice during tonight's broadcast that he's starting on Thursday and BA also mentioned that he was starting on Thursday.

[hawing]

So is Rogers starting Thursday or Friday? Melvin said twice during tonight's broadcast that he's starting on Thursday and BA also mentioned that he was starting on Thursday.

I'd like to know, as we are attending Thursday but cannot go on Friday. So far brewers.com says Yo on Thursday, Mark on Friday.

[Mass Haas]

Whoo-hoo, big Pete Ladd sighting --

 

Rogers ready for 1st big-league start

Mt. Ararat graduate gets his 1st chance 6 years after draft

BY PAUL BETIT Portland Press Herald

 

Peter Ladd has a good idea of what Mark Rogers will feel when he starts on the mound for the first time in a Major League Baseball game Friday night.

 

"Excitement," said Ladd, who played Little League baseball in his native Portland before his family moved to Georgia. "I'm so excited for him because it's just an unbelievable feeling."

 

Rogers, a hard-throwing right-hander from Orr's Island, is scheduled to make his first start in a major league uniform against the Florida Marlins at Miller Park.

 

"He's gotten to what his dream has always been, to make it to the major leagues," said Ladd, who spent four of his six major league seasons with the Brewers as a relief pitcher.

 

Rogers' first start for Milwaukee comes more than six years after the Brewers made him their first pick in the 2004 amateur baseball draft.

 

His arrival to the major leagues was delayed by shoulder surgeries, which forced him to miss more than two minor league seasons.

 

"A lot of kids would have given up and said, 'The heck with this,' but he continued on," said Ladd, who lives in New Gloucester and works for Hancock Lumber. "I've followed what he's been doing, and I'm just very happy for him. He's come through a lot."

 

When the 24-year-old Rogers takes the mound Friday night he will join a pretty exclusive club. Only 13 other Maine-born pitchers have started a Major League Baseball game since the end of World War II.

 

Billy Swift, who spent 13 years in the major leagues after starring at South Portland High and the University of Maine, knows exactly what Rogers is going through.

 

"As a reliever, you don't have time to think because you don't know when you're going to pitch," said Swift, who now lives in Paradise Valley, Ariz. "As a starter, you do have time to think because you know exactly when you're going to pitch. It gets nerve-wracking. You definitely get nervous."

 

Since Rogers was added to the Milwaukee roster on Sept. 10, he has pitched two innings of perfect relief.

 

"It's nice his first start is at home," Swift said. "He's gotten use to the mound. He's in familiar territory. He can study some game tapes and watch guys hit. If he does his job, he'll be fine."

 

Jim Beattie, a Virginia native who grew up in South Portland, said Rogers is probably better prepared for his first start than he was when he made his first start with the New York Yankees on April 25, 1978.

 

"He's probably got his mechanics in better shape then when I was 23 coming up," said Beattie, who now works as a professional scout for the Toronto Blue Jays. "I was a big tall guy who threw hard and had no idea where the ball was going."

 

Ladd, who was inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this year, made only one start for the Brewers. It was in 1984 against the Baltimore Orioles at old Memorial Stadium.

 

During his four innings on the mound, Eddie Murphy and Cal Ripken Jr. hit long home runs off him, Ladd recalled.

 

"I don't know of anybody who started the game from the stretch, but I did," he said. "I didn't know how to wind up. I hadn't done that since college."

 

Beattie's first start in the major leagues also came against the Orioles.

 

"I pitched against Baltimore in Memorial Stadium and I beat Jim Palmer, which I never let him forget," said Beattie, who served as the Baltimore general manager for two years. "I remember the first pitch I threw was a double down the left-field line by Al Bumbry, but he didn't score. I can't remember how far I went, but I think we won 6-4."

 

Swift, who went 21-8 for the San Francisco Giants in 1993, doesn't remember much about his first start with the Seattle Mariners on June 7, 1985.

 

"It was in Cleveland, and I came up from Double-A," he said. "I was really scared. It was one of those things where I got thrown into a game. It was raining. It was cold. And it was in Cleveland, and there was nobody there."

 

Rogers won't be alone when he pitches Friday night. A contingent from Maine will be at Miller Park to cheer him on.

 

"There are a lot of people from Maine who are going out," said Stephanie Rogers, his mother. "Different people. People he went to school with, coaches. Aunts and uncles. His grandmother."

 

Two weeks ago, Stephanie Rogers saw her son pitch in relief in a 4-0 loss against the Chicago Cubs at Miller Park.

 

"I was there for that one inning," she said. "I was very happy and very excited because he's worked very, very hard to get here."

[Mass Haas]

More discussion about Rogers' prep for tonight.

[YoGo24]

That last article that was posted was written by former Brewers beat writer Rick Braun. He will also be writing the gamer for that same paper tonight. I hope Rodgers goes out and performs well. Just want 5 solid innings with good control.