2025 stats: 81 G, 77.1 IP, 1.98 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 203 ERA+, 0.94 WHIP, 5.6 K/9, 0.8 BB/9, 2.4 bWAR
w/Giants: 53 G, 50 IP, 1.80 ERA, 2.64 FIP, 222 ERA+, 0.86 WHIP, 6.8 K/9, 0.7 BB/9, 1.7 bWAR
So much has already been written. So much praise heaped. What more is there to write about Tyler Rogers other than it’s over?
Advertisement
I did my part. I said my prayers each night, wishing the separation would be temporary, that after trading him, we’d re-sign him in the offseason. How could we not? Weren’t there still 8th innings to be pitched in 2026? And batters to be spun like tops? After seven years of scraping his knuckles on our mound, of inspiring a generation of little league submariners from Seaside to Sacramento…the story of Tyler Rogers and us couldn’t just end with a transaction.
But our awkward bullpen bird had outgrown the nest. Rogers found a home in Toronto, bagging the first big contract of his career. Three years, 37 million dollars. Imagine: thousands of dollars for each 80 MPH fastball, for each rising slider, for each awkward swing, for each dink and doink cued off the end of a baseball bat. Worth every penny in my mind. Based on recent events, it’d be easy to feel sorry for Blue Jays fans — but I don’t, just a whole lot of envy and a dash of regret that this didn’t happen sooner. If only they had made a play for Rogers at the deadline…man, they could’ve used him in Game 7.
We all could’ve used him in Game 7. As if Giants fans needed more incentive to pull for Toronto — but to see Rogers sling one of his saucers on the biggest stage in the sport with the game on the line against the hated Doogers would’ve been worth the heartache of watching him depart. A victory for the good guys! A triumph of weird over the forces of obviousness! Rogers would’ve come out on top in a string of hypotheticals. Would Max Muncy have lifted that solo shot in the 8th? No! Would Miguel Rojas have gained count leverage in the 9th? Double-no!
Advertisement
No doubt in my mind, Rogers would’ve sealed the deal — an instant Canadian legend. Those up-northerners probably would’ve named the whole dang stadium after him. It’s got a nice ring to it: The Tyler Centre.
Alas…
Tyler Rogers last appearance as a Giant in 2025 came against Pittsburgh on July 29th. He got billed for the loss, the two earned runs he allowed providing the difference in score. A fitting end in one sense considering the rally mounted against him was a typical soft-contact coup: Five groundballs, four singles with just two of them getting out of the infield.
These have been the kind of fluky frames that have dogged him throughout his career, that have been used as proof rather than an exception to why he could never serve as a true closer. No matter how good he is at attacking the strike zone, at avoiding the barrel and dulling hard-hit rates, at keeping the baseball grounded and in the park, there is a solid underlying belief, grounded in fear of the inexplicable, that how he pitches shouldn’t work, that at any moment the luck will run out, and one of his levitating orbs will serve as a Proustian madeleine to a struggling .600 OPS hitter, and unlock some core memory of smoking wiffle balls in his backyard.
Advertisement
We have seen this happen. Jake Cave in Colorado. Nick Ahmed in LA. That one-percent home run rate is seared into our brain, so much so it’s hard to insist that the results in the aforementioned alternate-2025 would’ve been any different. Rogers is so exciting to watch because he stares into the eyes of logic when he takes the mound. A mix of moxie, forgetfulness, and humor is required for a high-leverage submariner. Let us never forget Dan Quisenberry’s mustache — and the fact that he wrote a book of poetry.
Compare Rogers’s career 4.07 ERA in the 9th to his 2.35 ERA in the 8th, and it seems he himself lost faith in his quirk and frequently looked down on his tight-rope walk when it came to closing out a game. The most opportunities Rogers got in the 9th came in 2021, his breakout year, in which he earned 12 saves over 22 innings and 24 appearances. From late May to early June, Rogers appeared in 8 consecutive games in the 9th, and the team went 7-1 in them, despite a three run whoopsie against the Doogers (that was forgiven by a 3-run homer by Grand POBO Posey off of Blake Treinen). But more crooked numbers allowed against key opponents ultimately swelled his final frame ERA to 5.24. His ERA in the 8th: 1.24. That dominance, and the presence of much more traditional closer options (ex. Jake McGee, Camilo Doval, Ryan Walker), seemed to cement Rogers’s role for the rest of his tenure in San Francisco.
That final appearance as a Giant was the 392nd of Rogers’s career, placing him at 10th on the franchise list for relievers. If he had stayed in San Francisco, his 81 games on the year would’ve moved him past Santiago Casilla, Jeremy Affeldt, and Rod Beck to sixth on the list. His climb up the club rankings is over, but for the man with the rubber arm, it’s not hard to think he’ll keep gobbling up games. He led the Majors in appearances for a second straight year, and his 81 games was a career best (while his 77.1 innings pitched was second to his 81 IP mark set in 2021).
Advertisement
Rogers’s age 34 season was arguably his best. His 1.98 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 0.944 WHIP, and 203 ERA+ were all career marks — and those reflect a bit of a backslide in the second half as a Met. Over 50 innings pitched, Rogers owned a 222 ERA+. His 1.7 bWAR had already surpassed his final marks from the previous three full seasons. He didn’t get one, but he absolutely deserved an All-Star nod.
While the Giants got an impressive package of MLB-ready-or-near-ready talent (RHP Jose Butto, OF Drew Gilbert, and RHP Blade Tidwell) for him, looking ahead to the state of the relief corps in 2026, you can’t help but feel there’s a hole. Erik Miller in the 8th? Joel Peguero? There’s firepower, sure — but just as much inexperience, errant command, and maddening walks in those arms.
For all the perceived unpredictably inherent to his style, Rogers has been consistent for a half-a-decade. We knew this, and we’re going to miss this. Hot take: It’s nice not to have to worry about your game plan in the late innings. Life with a lead is definitely better when there is a plan, rather than having first time manager Tony Vitello be-bop and scat in and out of dicey, late-and-close situations. Re-signing Rogers was an emotional-and-sensical move that didn’t happen. Considering the team’s needs, bringing him back would’ve made a bunch of people inside and outside (Rogers included) pretty happy. Given the brass’s reluctance around handing out a longer-term, six-figure deal for a starting pitcher, Rogers eventually moved out of the club’s determined price-range. Tough beans for the bullpen in 2026. Bittersweet for us fans. Selfishly, I wish he was still our little secret; but damn, I’m happy he’s getting paid. He’ll make nearly $9 million as a Jay next year, then $13.66 million through his age 37 season and be guaranteed $12 million in 2029 if he stays healthy and on the mound in the coming years.
Hey, maybe the Giants will re-sign Rogers then. With his mechanics, he’ll be throwing 70 innings a season well into early 40’s.
Read the full article here
