NL Rookie of the Month: Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

NL Rookie of the Month: Trevor Rogers has been named as the NL Rookie of the Month

The 26-year-old was very much under the radar (to the casual viewer) a few short months ago. Rogers currently ranks among the Top 10 of NL pitchers in every major statistical category and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon. With a bevy of rookie talent; it"s a safe bet that another Marlin wins NL Rookie of the Month or of the Year.

Trevor Rogers excellent performance extended into May. He was outstanding for the Miami Marlins during the month of April. Rogers finished the month of April with a 3-1 record to combine with a 1.29 ERA, one of the lowest among starting pitchers in the NL for the month. He gave up 3 runs in the first inning of his first start. It’s clear why Rogers took home the award. Rogers also in the process became the first Marlin to win the NL Rookie of the Month since Justin Bour in September of 2015. Let"s hope Trevor"s success is more sustainable.

Out of a possible six months, Ichiro Suzuki (2001, AL), Mike Trout (2012, AL) and Aaron Judge (2017, AL) won the Rookie of the Month award four times while Jason Bay (2004, NL), José Abreu (2014, AL), Juan Soto (2018 NL), and Yordan Alvarez (2019, AL) all won it three times.

Let"s take a look at Rogers’ combined five starts made during April. The evidence speaks for itself. It was a Jacob deGrom type of month; I don"t make that claim lightly. Rogers made five starts on the mound for Miami during the month of April; 3-1 with a 1.29 ERA.

A cool nugget; Rodgers gave up 18 hits to 109 batters; 38 K’s and a 12+ K/9. Rogers’ fastball is speaking for itself. We already know about Zac Gallen, Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Sanchez, Sixto Sanchez. Rodgers has no

Rogers outdueled both Mets ace Jacob deGrom — the NL Pitcher of the Month — and the Brewers" Corbin Burnes, who also received votes for Pitcher of the Month along with deGrom. Rogers threw six shutout innings apiece in his matchups with deGrom and Burnes and earned the win in both games.

Rogers admits the fans momentarily threw him off his game. Mechanical issues lead to walks and passed balls. Rodgers also acknowledged having those debut jitters all over again with 4,605 fans at Marlins Park. He said, "I was overeager, for sure," "Hearing the noise of the crowd, the talking, the chit-chatting, the cheering and booing and all that good stuff, it was something I had to get used to again. It definitely got the heart rate going a little faster.".

MLB Rookie of the Year; Anthony Bender Call Up

Anthony Bender displayed his stuff earlier this year in the Grapefruit League. His sinker averaged 97.4 mph in appearances that were tracked by Statcast and his slider averaged 86.2 mph with a very high spin rate. He had good control of both pitches and frequently prevented balls in play from getting in the air, culminating in 8 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings.

Anthony Bender will become the fourth player this season to make his major league debut for the Marlins pitching staff in the aftermath of Paul Campbell’s PED suspension.

With no Minor League Baseball in 2020, Bender joined the Milwaukee Milkmen of the American Association where he had mixed results (5.48 ERA, 1.64 ERA, 25 K in 21.1 IP). His highest level of MiLB competition to date has been Double-A—he spent the final week of the 2019 season with the Brewers’ Biloxi affiliate. Expectations were low when the Marlins scooped him up last November on a minor league deal.

MLB Star Pete Alonso Unveils Special Hamburger He Created for Fans at Mets" Stadium: ‘Damn Good"

The previous April receipant of the NL ROM award was New York"s first baseman back in 2019. Side note; Alonso recently Unveiled a special hamburger for Citi Field. The 26-year-old slugger named his creation the Polar Burger, after his “Polar Bear".

NL Rookie of the Month; First Sweep

Dylan Floro had a 1-2-3 7th. With two outs, Diamondbacks third baseman Asdrúbal Cabrera crushed a would-be home run to right-center but was robbed by Magneuris Sierra. Floro got his second win of the season. In the 9th, Bass quickly recorded the first two outs. Next, Bass walked Carson Kelly and then allowed a single to Josh VanMeter. After a mound visit, Bass was able to get Eduardo Escobar to fly out to center.

Marlins closer Yimi García earn his fifth save of the season. Garcia threw one inning allowing only one base runner on a soft single into left to Pavin Smith, who went 3-for-5 with an RBI for the Diamondbacks.

The Marlins offense didn’t have a great night at the plate as Madison Bumgarner pitched very well. Miguel Rojas did have a nice game at the plate as he went 2-for-4 including a solo home run to left to start off the game. It was the Marlins" first leadoff home run since Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered in San Francisco on April 24.

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Main image credit: Embed from Getty Images