Napoleon Hill once wrote, “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”
That kind of mindset, along with a second-to-none work ethic, have helped lead Jake Rogers to where he is right now.
Rogers, a 2013 graduate of Canyon High School, is the starting catcher for the Detroit Tigers. He’s currently in the midst of what is by far the best season of his professional career.
But while some athletes cruise to success from the beginning of their careers, Rogers’ good times have come on the backend of some unfortunate bad ones.
Take it with you wherever you go
A native of Crosbyton, Rogers moved to Canyon in the fourth grade and found great success with the Eagles’ varsity baseball team. Under the guidance of coaches such as John Doan, he batted .492 with 48 RBI his senior year. That was enough to earn him a scholarship to play for Tulane University.
Rogers eventually developed into a standout defensive catcher with hitting upside. He batted .261 with seven homers and 28 RBI his junior year, catching the eye of MLB scouts. In 2016, Houston selected Rogers in the third round of the MLB Draft and he was seemingly on his way to the big leagues.
Rough shape
Rogers was traded to Detroit as part of the Justin Verlander deal in 2017 and made his long-awaited Major League debut in 2019. By his own admission, the initial results were less than impressive. In 35 games, Rogers batted .125 with four home runs. He was sent back down to the minors and didn’t play a game for Detroit in the COVID shortened 2020 season. Rogers took it in stride.
“I didn’t have the best year in ’19,” he said. “I learned a lot of things getting to be up here in the big leagues and getting to see how everything works. In 2020 I spent time down, but in 2021 got called up and wanted to hit the ground running. I’d been through the ups and downs and just worked to get my confidence back so I could keep going.”
Initially, Rogers hit the ground running, hitting .239 with six homers and 17 RBI in 38 games. Unfortunately, he wasn’t through the rough times yet. In September of 2021, Rogers heard the three words no baseball player ever wants to hear: Tommy John Surgery.
Due to the surgery, Rogers missed the 2022 season. It was a tough blow, but the catcher refused to let himself be deterred. He did the only thing he knew how to do in the situation and got to work.
“I decided to work on a lot of things,” he said. “Not just getting my arm healthy and being able to throw and play again, but also catching, receiving, blocking and all of that stuff…I couldn’t really throw much, but I was able to hit early on last summer so I worked with hitting coaches and stuff. I was just trying not to waste time and took my opportunity to get better.”
Hey, look ma! I made it!
He got better alright. Not just his health, either, but his play. Rogers is having a career year for the Tigers, already surpassing his career highs in home runs (11), RBI (26) and games played (57). He has more home runs and RBI this season than he had in his entire career coming into this year. He’s also remained a brilliant presence on defense, having allowed one passed ball entering the All-Star break.
Rogers hasn’t let the success go to his head and he’s not playing with any sense of having something to prove because of his hardships. In fact, he’s grateful for all the challenges he’s faced in his life and career.
“I’ve been through the low lows and now the highs to become the player that I am,” he said. “Having gone through all of that really helped me become a better person, but also really helped me realize the type of player that I am and could be.”
While the Tigers sit at 39-50 at press time, they’re only 5.5 games out of first place in the Central Division. Though Rogers says he’s still working on ways to get better as an individual, his reason for that isn’t self-serving. He wants to improve in order to help his squad to be the best they can be.
“I’m trying to help us get that top spot in the Central Division,” he said. “We’re not looking at standings and taking it one series at a time, but that’s still the goal. We’re going to get this team back and healthy, have some fun and win some ball games.”
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