DETROIT -- The Tigers were on the road for Players’ Weekend last week, so they had a one-night version they called Players’ Choice on Saturday.
Among the pregame festivities was a Jake Rogers lookalike contest, in which fans donned their best mustache -- some real, some fake -- for a chance at Tigers memorabilia. The winner bore a striking resemblance to the Detroit catcher, body frame included.
“He looked pretty good,” said Rogers, who saw him introduced between innings.
Rogers half-joked that he might sneak into the contest, but any thought of that ended when he was in the starting lineup. By game’s end, Rogers looked like a Royals nemesis in providing RBIs with a double and a single in a 4-2 victory. Detroit’s fifth consecutive win, the longest current streak in the American League, extended its division lead to 11 1/2 games.
Rogers has had a different look this season as a backup catcher. The decrease in playing time has meant scattered at-bats for Rogers, who usually catches once per series. But with Dillon Dingler looking increasingly dangerous as a hitter -- a trend that continued with a 15-pitch at-bat on Saturday -- Rogers has a chance to catch when manager A.J. Hinch uses Dingler as a designated hitter, which happened in two of the last three games.
Rogers has tried to stay active between opportunities with early work. Some days, he’ll run on the field before batting practice. Other days, he’ll work out his arm by throwing a football, a favorite cross-training activity for some pitchers. Some days, he’ll shag fly balls in the outfield.
“I have a newfound appreciation for the backup catcher role,” Rogers said, “because it is hard. You have to get used to it, and I have been. It’s good to have a game like that, score a couple runs for the boys, just put together great at-bats. I feel like I’ve been hitting the ball hard, just a little too much on the ground and right at people.”
One night after Zach McKinstry fell a double shy of the cycle on Central Michigan Night at Comerica Park, it was Rogers’ turn to be celebrated. He entered with a good track record against Royals starter Michael Wacha, 3-for-5 with a home run last season. He quickly added to that in his first at-bat by turning on a first-pitch sinker and landing it just inside the left-field line to score Javier Báez from first to open the scoring in the third.
“I knew first at-bat, runner on first, I was probably going to get a sinker,” Rogers said, “so I was trying to get the head of the barrel to it and kept it fair. I’ve seen him well.”
Rogers had to battle out of an 0-2 hole to earn his second hit in the fifth inning. He fouled off a 3-2 changeup to extend the at-bat for another sinker, this one on the outer half. Rogers got enough to line a two-out gapper into left-center, sending McKinstry racing around the bases to score from first.
“That guy runs like his pants are on fire,” Rogers said. “Incredible hustle play.”
McKinstry’s first-to-home time of 9.86 seconds was his fastest this season, according to Statcast, and second on the team (Brewer Hicklen 9.72 on May 8). Rogers stopped between first and second, wary of making the final out of the inning while McKinstry was speeding home. He took second when the throw bounced away from catcher Salvador Perez.
Rogers’ fourth multihit game of the season, and third since mid-June, provided two of Detroit’s first three runs, with Spencer Torkelson’s 27th home run of the season sandwiched in between. Andy Ibáñez added a pinch-hit solo homer in the eighth.
While the two hits still left Rogers batting .182 for the season, his hits have tended to be timely. He’s batting .308 (11-for-36) with runners on base, compared with 7-for-63 (.111) with the bases empty.
Rogers also made his impact behind the plate, helping starting pitcher Chris Paddack (5-11) navigate through the Royals’ lineup for five innings of one-run ball and his first win since his Tigers debut on July 30, despite recording only one swing and miss and one strikeout.
“He was a little more creative with his first pitches,” Hinch said. “It wasn’t just pumping first-pitch fastball. You saw a few wrinkles in there.”
Said Paddack: “That was part of the game plan with me and Rog. It’s an aggressive team. We got some quick outs, and we were pretty efficient. Not a ton of swing and miss, but when we needed a strikeout late, we got one.”
That’s a lot of looks for a catcher who has one distinctive look, sometimes imitated, never duplicated.