Detroit — It’s easy to forget that these guys, most of them, were once kids who saved baseball cards and collected autographs and wore the jerseys of their favorite players.
For some, like Tigers’ catcher Jake Rogers, that kid is still very much alive inside.
Waiting in his locker Sunday morning was a signed jersey from the Astros’ Kyle Tucker. Rogers slid it onto the rack with his burgeoning collection.
“This is the first time I’ve done this,” he said. “I didn’t do it in 2019 or 2021 (his first two seasons in the big leagues). But I ordered a bunch of jerseys early this year and as we’ve played these teams, I’ve tried to get them to sign.”
The roster of signed jerseys so far, at least the ones in his locker, include Jason Varitek, Ichiro Suzuki, Pudge Rodriguez, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Max Scherzer, JT Realmuto, Bryce Harper, Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout and his two former minor-league teammates, Yordan Alvarez and Tucker.
“Some guys won’t do it,” Rogers said. “Some guys put nice messages on there. Some guys just kind of sign their name. I’m going to have to get mad at Yordan. I played with him for two years. Tuck wrote a nice message and Yordan just signed.
“I’m going have to yell at him when he gets in the box (laughs).”
At home, Rogers has signed jerseys from Miguel Cabrera, Alan Trammell and others of Tigers’ vintage. He’s taking Clayton Kershaw and Mookie Betts jerseys with him to Los Angeles in September, hoping to get those signed.
“You just send them over and hope for the best,” he said. “I’m so thankful for those guys who sign for me. It means a lot. I’ve always been a collector, baseball cards, memorabilia.”
At the bottom of his locker, speaking of memorabilia, is a laminated lineup card from the game in Boston Aug. 11.
“I hit fourth ahead of Miggy,” Rogers said, smiling, never mind the 0-for-4 that day. “I got both AJ (Hinch) and Miggy to sign it.”
His two most prized jerseys, though, are of his catcher idols — Yadier Molina and Pudge.
“I met Pudge when I was younger,” Rogers said. “I was so starstruck. I worked one of his camps in Dallas.”
There are two unsigned jerseys he hopes he can get done next year — David Ortiz and Joe Mauer.
“I’m going to frame all the jerseys and hang them up in the house,” he said. “I’m just a big baseball fan.”
He was asked about reciprocation. Has anybody requested his jersey in return?
“I don’t know about that,” he said, laughing. “They don’t want mine at all. Maybe one day.”
Cisnero misfiring
These are not fun days for Tigers’ veteran reliever Jose Cisnero.
Since July 7, he’s given up 20 earned runs in 14.2 innings over 17 outings. He ERA has jumped from 2.18 to 5.29. Opponents in that stretch are slashing .349/.421/.621.
A lot of the damage has come off his sinker (.486 average, .543 slug). So much so that Cisnero has been going more to a cutter and the results have been mixed.
The seeds of his problems, Hinch said, weren’t necessarily in the pitches themselves.
“It’s tied to controlling the strike zone,” he said. “If you struggle early in the count and you end up exposing yourself to bad counts, it really doesn’t matter what pitch you throw at this level. I think the majority of his issues have been getting into counts. He’s created his own messes.”
That was certainly the case in a three-run eighth inning Saturday night. The inning started with a walk to Alex Bregman and steamrolled — three hits, a hit-bastman and a wild pitch.
“It’s all tied in,” Hinch said. “Yes, the sinker is getting hit. Yes, the cutter usage is up and it’s been erratic. Yes, in his last three or four outings it’s gotten out of hand for him. It’s all tied together. It’s not really about the cutter or the sinker, it is about overall effectiveness and pitching in poor counts.”
Fastbreak kids
The way Parker Meadows has jumped out of the gate in his big-league career feels unprecedented. But it most certainly is not.
Whether you look at it as cautionary or celebratory, Meadows’ five-game flurry is very similar to the breakout starts of Akil Baddoo, Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter. To wit:
Through the first five career games:
▶ Meadows: 6 for 17 (.353), 1.182 OPS
▶ Baddoo: 5 for 13 (.385), 1.00 OPS
▶ Greene: 6 for 16 (.375), .899 OPS
▶ Carpenter: 6 for 18 (.333), 1.151 OPS
“I must have come on strong in the last couple,” Carpenter said, smiling about his 0-for-8, start with six strikeouts. “Because the first two were rough.”
Carpenter was asked to offer some perspective on this, especially for Meadows.
“Keep going,” he said. “Build confidence in this because he’s facing the best guys in the league and hitting so well, it’s pretty impressive. It’s good to know that just because these guys have big names and have been doing it for a long time doesn’t mean they are any better than you in that particular time when you’re hitting off them.”
At some point, he said, you are all playing the same game at the highest level in the world.
“Like today, we are facing Justin Verlander,” Carpenter said. “You go into it like, ‘He’s got a 95-mph fastball with whatever the metrics are, a curveball and slider.’ It turns into that and not, ‘Oh, it’s Justin Verlander.’”
Rotation TBA
The Tigers are listing TBA for the last two games of the upcoming series against the Yankees. Wednesday and Thursday would be Matt Manning’s and Eduardo Rodriguez’s turns in the order.
Manning left his last start in the seventh inning when his back tightened. He’s been feeling fine since but they want to see how he comes out of his bullpen session Monday before they set the rotation.
“We’re just waiting,” Hinch said. “We don’t need to worry about Wednesday until, at the very earliest, Monday. All signs are still positive. But you never know. You might want to push guys back. We could always do a bullpen game or we could do a variety of things.”
Lefty Joey Wentz last start at Triple-A Toledo was Thursday, so he would be on turn if the Tigers wanted to give him another spot start.
On deck: New York Yankees
▶ Series: Four games at Comerica Park, Detroit
▶ First pitch: Monday-Wednesday — 6:40 p.m.; Thursday: 1:10 p.m.
▶ TV/radio: All four games on Bally Sports Detroit/97.1 FM
▶ Probables: Monday — RHP Luis Severino (3-8, 7.26) vs. RHP Reese Olson (2-5, 5.29); Tuesday — RHP Michael King (3-5, 3.13) vs. LHP Tarik Skubal (3-2, 4.06); Wednesday — RHP Gerrit Cole (11-4, 2.95) vs. TBA; Thursday — RHP Clarke Schmidt (8-8, 4.51) vs. TBA.
Scouting report
▶ Severino, Yankees: He’s coming off his best start of the season, holding the Nationals to one hit over 6.2 innings. It was a ray of light in a very dark season for him. He’s got a career-worst 1.749 WHIP, with opponents hitting .309 with a .568 slug and .946 OPS. He’s allowed 20 home runs in 74.1 innings.
▶ Olson, Tigers: After pitching three no-hit innings against the Cubs in his last start, he got bit by the home run ball in the fourth. Dansby Swanson and Jeimer Candelario hit two-run homers to spoil his day.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
X: @cmccosky