After Ron Gardenhire announced Friday night that catcher Grayson Greiner is headed to the 10-day IL with a back strain and that the Tigers are calling up veteran Bobby Wilson from Triple-A Toledo, he was asked if Jake Rogers' name was part of the conversation.
Gardenhire had just hashed things out with general manager Al Avila and assistant GM David Chadd.
"Never heard that name," Gardenhire deadpanned. "Who is he?"
That would be Jake Rogers, the Tigers' No. 12 prospect and ostensibly their catcher of the future. The 24-year-old was moved up to Triple-A a month ago.
"Never heard that name," Gardenhire said it again, this time with a grin.
It was the manager's way of pouring water on a premature idea.
While Rogers got off to a great start following his promotion, he's fallen into a funk the past two weeks. Now is not the time to bring him to the big leagues. Not only would his struggles at the plate be magnified, but he'd spend most of his time on the bench.
The Tigers plan to use John Hicks as their primary catcher until Greiner returns, with Wilson playing once or twice a week.
"We need Rogers to play," Gardenhire said. "He needs to keep playing and find his swing. We can’t bring a guy up here that’s struggling down there and put him in the middle of this. We don’t need that right now and he doesn’t need it."
In his first 10 games in Triple-A, Rogers hit .294 with a gaudy 1.062 OPS. He's hitting .132 in 11 games since. That translates to .208/.722 over 21 games. He has raw power, but a propensity for striking out, and the latter has caught up to him of late.
"He still has to grow," Gardenhire said. "He got to Triple-A and he’s seeing some veteran pitchers that spin the ball and all those things, and he has to learn down there right now."
But with the big-league club mired in a malaise of its own, there's no need to rush the kids here.
Rogers will arrive when he's ready. Right now, he's not.