WEST PALM BEACH, FL (SportsRadio 610)- Brendan Rodgers did not have an exit meeting with anyone from the Colorado Rockies after the 2024 season ended.
Weeks went by and he heard nothing. A month passed, still silence.
Finally, on November 21, a day before the deadline to offer players arbitration, Rodgers’ phone rang. On the other end was Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt. The conversation lasted less than a minute. Schmidt, who was the organization’s scouting director when it made Rodgers the third pick of the 2015 draft, informed the 28-year old that he was being non-tendered.
Rodgers thought he might be a candidate to be traded over the offseason, but to just be cut loose caught him by surprise. A couple of teams showed interest over the winter, but when he saw Jose Altuve was considering a move to the outfield, Rodgers saw an opportunity with the Astros.
“I think he’s coming in here and he wants to prove that he’s the player we all saw a few years ago in Colorado,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “He’s been battling some injuries. He’s in good shape, he feels strong, so I see him with a little chip on his shoulder.”
After a slow start to his Major League career, Rodgers finally broke through as a 25-year old in 2022. He won a Gold Glove at second base and his 4.3 bWAR led the Rockies and was seventh highest among all second baseman.
He was unable to build on that success. Left shoulder surgery cost him the first 105 games of the 2023 season. Rodgers was healthy enough to play in 135 games last season, but he slashed just .267/.314/.407 while playing half his games at Coors Field, and of the 15 qualified second baseman, he ranked 10th in defensive runs saved and 11th in outs above average, per FanGraphs.
Rodgers believes the Rockies gave up on him “a little bit”, but he’s not out to prove them wrong for doing so.
“It was a minor setback in the whole process of my career,” he said. “It's not prove anyone wrong, it's more like prove myself right, that I can still play, that I’ve had a pretty good career, and there’s obviously some more in the tank for me, in my eyes.”
Of the 169 players with 450 or more plate appearances in 2024, Rodgers 56.1 percent ground ball rate was the highest, according to FanGraphs. His career ground ball rate is 53.2 percent, so elevating the baseball is what he is focused on.
“I hit the ball hard, just kind of had a tendency of hitting it on the ground quite a bit,” Rodgers said. That's kind of what we're working on, is what the hows and the whys of how to get it in the air. I’ve had a great first week here, and all the hitting guys seem super dialed into helping me get to where they think I can get.”
In his brief time with the Astros, Rodgers has focused on keeping his hands connected, staying loaded on his back hip longer and having a better finish to his swing, but he said he’s also learned a small detail about the way his hands move, which would have helped him the last couple of years.
“I've always been kind of a handsy hitter, and now with the velo and the spin on everyone's heaters and sliders and everything you just have to be that much more connected and have that much less movement in order to catch up to 96 MPH at the top with a good slider at the bottom (of the zone),” Rodgers said.
Rodgers is 2-for-8 with a walk through his first three spring training, and he’s been able to put the ball in the air four of the six times it’s been put it in play. Once one of baseball’s bright young stars, Rodgers is with the Astros on a minor league deal, fighting for a spot on the 26-man roster in hopes of jolting a once promising career.
“I know I can still play and help a winning team win more games, and I think that's what I'm really looking forward to the most, is trying to help a good team get to where they belong,” Rodgers said.