DUNEDIN, Fla. — Grant Rogers learned last Thursday that he’d be making his first-ever start in a big-league spring training game Tuesday and that made for a very long weekend.
“The anticipation was killing me,” said the Toronto Blue Jays pitching prospect. “I was excited.”
The 24-year-old, fourth among all minor-leaguers with 150.1 innings logged last season, knew he’d be facing the New York Yankees, but he didn’t put much thought into what type of lineup they might bring over to TD Ballpark. Just ahead of the Blue Jays’ daily meeting, fellow righty C.J. Van Eyk took a look, “and he just started giggling.”
“I was like, ‘What’s wrong?’” Rogers relayed. “He was like, ‘Well, you got everyone.’ So I was like, ‘All right, let’s do it.’”
Facing a regular-season calibre lineup featuring Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Paul Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham and Austin Wells, Rogers survived a shaky two-run first to add a clean second in an 8-7 Blue Jays loss.
Along the way, he induced a Goldschmidt double-play ball, struck out Grisham and popped up Judge to cap a seven-pitch duel, seizing the chance to leave an impression on manager John Schneider and his coaching staff.
“I can provide good innings, I can provide length, I can get outs, I can get a double play and my work ethic,” Rogers said of what he hopes to show the Blue Jays. “I feel like I prepared myself for this spring training to get a shot at this, and I’m glad I did. I’m taking a run at it and just getting better every day.”
For Rogers and other young players expected to open the season at triple-A Buffalo, the Blue Jays will have far more playing time than usual to give them this spring, and plenty of lineups will look like the one they employed Tuesday due to the World Baseball Classic.
Kazuma Okamoto begins an exodus of players Friday when he heads to Japan, and the rest of the Blue Jays’ infield will follow him in short order. Even bubble players like Leo Jimenez and Adam Macko are joining their national teams, creating additional big-league spring game reps.
Each look is valuable, since the front office and coaches “have our ideas” about players, “like, this guy profiles as this or that, or plus defender/average defender, or plus runner, slug,” so, it is nice to see them,” said Schneider.
“A lot of times you see these guys for one at-bat, they make a play or two in the infield when they’re backing up and then their day is over,” he continued. “But watching them get ready for an at-bat, for certain situations defensively, is big. I’m looking for stuff like that. I’m looking for awareness. I’m looking for how you’re helping us win right now. Are you keeping a double play in order? Are you throwing to the right base? Are you where you’re supposed to be? We’ll force those issues at times if we can, without really caring about the win-loss result. I want to see all that stuff. Whether they like it or not, you leave an impression, and you want to have one when you do leave that I can say, or (the other coaches) can say, yeah, we trust you.”
Building that trust now can potentially help down the road when the Blue Jays inevitably need help and they consider their options. How someone is performing in the moment is pivotal, of course, but the finer points Schneider detailed can help break ties if a decision is close.
The Blue Jays’ starting lineup Tuesday included Josh Kasevich, a gifted shortstop who started at third base versus the Yankees and will also get reps at second, catcher Brandon Valenzuela, who singled, and recent waiver claim Ben Cowles, an infielder with options. All should start the year at Buffalo, along with mid-game subs outfielder Yohendrick Pinango and corner infielder Charles McAdoo.
Top prospect Arjun Nimmala, the 20-year-old who walked and struck out subbing in for DH Davis Schneider, has a chance to open at double-A New Hampshire with a strong showing.
“You want these guys to understand the speed of the game a little bit,” said Schneider. “They’re going to be facing really good pitchers if they’re starting games and how they handle that. I want to see them learn in real time. Ask questions. And it’s time for them to step up a little bit.”
Rogers, an 11th-round pick in 2023 out of McNeese State University, experienced that on the fly Tuesday when he opened the game with a Grisham single, Judge hit by pitch, Bellinger run-scoring single and Chisholm RBI single. But he collected himself to beat Goldschmidt with a sinker that produced a double play, and Wells followed with another groundball to end the inning.
“That’s me,” he said of the pitch to Goldschmidt. “That’s what I want to do.”
Grant struck out Grisham on a slider in the second, but that’s not really his game. While he stands out for his imposing six-foot-seven, 230-pound frame, he also stands out for his durability and for not chasing strikeouts in a whiff-obsessed era.
“I love breaking bats,” said Rogers. “I’ll take a strikeout. But I love breaking bats, getting double plays, groundballs on the first or second pitch. That really motivates me, and if a strikeout comes, I’ll take it.”
A sinker that sat 92.7 m.p.h. mixes with a slider, splitter, cutter and work-in-progress curveball, making him a pitcher rather than a thrower, one Blue Jays development staff feel doesn’t get enough appreciation.
He logged 103.2 innings during his final season of college in 2023, 111.2 during his first year of pro ball before hitting 150.1 a year ago over 28 starts, 20 of them at double-A after a bump from high-A Vancouver.
Schneider said Rogers was described to him as having “a Chris Bassitt arsenal, where he’s got a lot of pitchability, a lot of pitches.”
“He didn’t seem overwhelmed, which is great, after pitching in A-ball in double-A last year, so it was pretty good,” the manager continued. “We’ll see what he can do, get off to a good start. We tell guys, too, when you get to the double-A level, you’re closer than you think. As long as your routines are good and you’re continuing to work on the things that you have to work on, you never know if the next Laz Estrada or Braydon Fisher, Mason Fluharty is right there. We’re going to need more than 26 this year. Cool for these guys to get an opportunity.”
One they can make pay off in a big way for themselves, and the Blue Jays.