Jake Rogers' importance to White Sox roster goes deeper than the surface-level stats

This goes without saying, but Jake Rogers was not the White Sox first choice at catcher. Kyle Teel has been injured most of this season, Edgar Quero hasn't recaptured his success from last year, and Drew Romo doesn't hit enough to be a primary catcher. They grabbed Joey Bart before the deadline, and it seemed like they'd found the answer for the position. But then Bart got hurt, once again leaving the Sox scrambling to add a catcher.

The Red Sox had placed Rogers, and the White Sox claimed him. Players taken off waivers usually aren't better than replacement-level, and they often don't stick with their organization for long. Rogers, who played for four different teams in a three-week span, doesn't sound like an exception. Fangraphs has his career wRC+ at 78, and he rarely comes close to 100 games a season. He's often quite good defensively, but Fangraphs has given him below-average fielding numbers about as often as he's gotten positive ones.

So, yes, he's basically a replacement-level catcher. But sometimes players without flashy stats or great careers have more intangible benefits to them--whether it's fan appeal, one unique talent, or something else, the whole package becomes greater than the sum of the parts. Rogers is definitely an emergency addition, and I'd be surprised if he sticks with the organization long-term, but it's worth looking at his career and seeing what he's done.

Jake Rogers became an important member of the Tigers before his departure

Prior to cycling between four teams this past month, Rogers had been with the Detroit Tigers since they got him from the Astros in a trade in 2017. His major league debut was in 2019, and aside from the shortened 2020 season, which he spent in Toledo, and the whole of 2022, which he missed due to Tommy John surgery, Rogers has been a regular catcher for the Tigers for the past seven years. Despite sporadic playing time and mediocre hitting stats, he became a fan-favorite player.

He was considered Tarik Skubal's personal catcher, and Skubal credits him with helping him get his first Cy Young award. In 2024, when the Tigers were having a touch-and-go season, Rogers hit a key Grand Slam in July that kicked off the team's turn-around and culminated in a Wild Card spot. Rogers also had a good season at the plate in 2023 as the Tigers' starting catcher, in which he hit 21 homers and sustained an .802 OPS. When he returned to Detroit with the Sox, he got a standing ovation.

And since leaving the Tigers, he's continued to establish himself in some pretty special ways. His four-team, 21-day saga is a record; Frank Huelsman switched between four teams in 42 days back in 1904, holding the record for over 100 years but Rogers has him beat by a wide margin.

I suppose that's what happens when a solid, well-liked bench player loses his position right around the trade deadline. Between the Tigers and the White Sox, Rogers played three games for the Orioles and three for the Red Sox. The Orioles had two injured catchers, and brought Rogers in as a stop-gap. He didn't do much for them, but he did a lot more for the Red Sox in the same number of games. He got a single, two doubles, two walks, and two RBIs over 9 PAs.

Since coming to the White Sox, he's already made an impact with a walk-off home run Friday against the Mets. I don't expect him to become their next star, or to repeat his 2023 hitting streak. But I do think he's had an interesting career that's worth remembering. He's now a reliable catcher the Sox can put at the bottom of their line-up while they figure out a long-term plan, and that isn't nothing. With Kyle Teel set for a rehab assignment, Rogers future with the organization is a bit unclear. I think he's worth keeping around. He isn't the best player in the world by any means, but there's more to him than it seems.

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