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  • Taylor Rogers Deserves to Be an All Star

    Cooper Carlson

    By Cooper Carlson

    The MLB All Star Game rosters were announced on July 4th and the Twins representative is Nelson Cruz. Don't get me wrong, Cruz is very deserving, but so is Taylor Rogers. He was robbed!

    Image courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, USA Today

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    The Twins bullpen has been about as big of a mess as possible in 2021 but there is one reliever having a career year that needs to be recognized. After a good but inconsistent 2019 and 2020, Taylor Rogers has become the reliever we've all been waiting for. Aside from Hansel Robles on a good day, Rogers is the only true trustworthy reliever in the Twins bullpen and he is one of the most trustworthy relievers in the American League. Rogers deserved to make his first All Star Game but now has to hold out hope to be a replacement. 

    Who could he have made it over?

    There are a total of five relievers representing the American League in the All Star Game this season. Three are deserving, two not so much

    • Liam Hendriks: 35.0 IP, 2.57 ERA, 2.78 FIP, 1.1 fWAR (WAR calculated on Fangraphs)
    • Matt Barnes: 36.0 IP,  2.75 ERA, 1.96 FIP, 1.7 fWAR
    • Ryan Pressly: 35.0 IP, 1.54 ERA, 1.38 FIP, 1.7 fWAR
    • Gregory Soto: 33.0 IP, 2.18 ERA, 3.37 FIP, 0.6 fWAR
    • Aroldis Chapman: 28.2 IP, 3.77 ERA, 3.54 FIP, 0.5 fWAR

    For context on reliever WAR, Chapman is tied with Caleb Thielbar. He's also one of the most hated players in baseball. I swear I can think of a much more deserving left handed (no, not Thielbar) pitcher that pitches in Minnesota. Oh, Taylor Rogers!

    • Taylor Rogers: 33.0 IP, 2.73 ERA (26th in AL), 2.22 FIP (6th), 1.2 fWAR (5th)

    Rogers is no longer some no name up and coming young reliever. He turned 30 six months ago and, like any elite reliever, could flame out in any given season. It sucks that he won't be getting the recognition he deserves this season and instead Aroldis Chapman, who can't help but blow leads every game, is getting the nod.

    It is what it is and ultimately it's hard for a terrible team to get a ton of recognition. Nonetheless, Taylor Rogers deserves to be pitching in Colorado with Nelson Cruz hitting in the next half inning. Perhaps all is not lost yet, as we often see replacements due to injury or players opting out. Hopefully Rogers is able to secure a spot soon.

    What do you think? Should Rogers be in the All Star Game? Leave a comment below and discuss!

    Follow Cooper Carlson on Twitter: Carlson_MnTwins

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    Otto von Ballpark

    Otto von Ballpark 20,320

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

    Chapman was fantastic until that June 10th game vs the Twins. Until that point, he had 1.2 fWAR (2nd in the AL) and 1.6 RA9-WAR (1st in the AL). Even until June 23, he was pretty much even with Rogers — Rogers had a slightly better fWAR, but Chapman had the advantage in RA9-WAR. Chapman’s stats have really plummeted over his last 3 appearances, he is basically around 0 WAR now.

    I wonder how recent that player balloting happened, a lot of it was probably based on that pre-June 10/23 performance.

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    Otto von Ballpark

    Otto von Ballpark 20,320

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

    For another perspective, by Baseball-Reference’s bWAR, Rogers (0.7) is behind Soto (1.1). Soto gets punished by FIP and thus fWAR because of his high walk rate.

    Soto is the Tigers token representative, but you could make a case that Jose Cisnero is the better Tigers reliever and very close to Rogers. 1.0 fWAR, 0.7 bWAR for Cisnero, compared to 1.2 fWAR and 0.7 bWAR Rogers.

     

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    cHawk

    cHawk 2,006

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

    Not sure if Rogers should be nominated. As I’ve been watching him, he hasn’t looked like the AL’s best reliever. I think it should go to Liam Hendricks.

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    RickOShea

    RickOShea 1,058

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    12 hours ago, theBOMisthebomb said:

    He probably deserves it, though I am not upset he didn't make it. This Twins club really only deserves one player on the All Star team. 

    The only stat that sours me on Rogers, and granted there are many in the same group, but his inherited runners that score is at 57% (stat from last week) for the 2021 season.  I want my all-star reliever to do a better job of coming in and putting out the fire completely, most of the time.

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    mike8791

    mike8791 528

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    The only stat that sours me on Rogers, and granted there are many in the same group, but his inherited runners that score is at 57% (stat from last week) for the 2021 season.  I want my all-star reliever to do a better job of coming in and putting out the fire completely, most of the time.

    The Twins bullpen is dead last in this all-important category and Rogers' % is totally unacceptable for a closer or an All Star.  The fact he is the top reliever on the 2021 Twins is an indictment of the pen, not a reason to add him to the All Star squad.

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    h2oface

    h2oface 7,066

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Every time someone writes about Rogers, they leave out the most important stat for a reliever. Inherited Runners Scored. 

    Relief.

    When a pitcher comes in and lets most of the runners on base score (and with Rogers, it has more than once been on his first pitch!), that is not my idea of "relief". Those runs all go to his teammates, and he gets by scott free on his numbers. To ignore that when talking about Rogers this year is unsound and cloaks the true story.

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    h2oface

    h2oface 7,066

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    On 7/5/2021 at 2:39 PM, h2oface said:

    Every time someone writes about Rogers, they leave out the most important stat for a reliever. Inherited Runners Scored. 

    Relief.

    When a pitcher comes in and lets most of the runners on base score (and with Rogers, it has more than once been on his first pitch!), that is not my idea of "relief". Those runs all go to his teammates, and he gets by scott free on his numbers. To ignore that when talking about Rogers this year is unsound and cloaks the true story.

    He sure looked like an All-Star in Monday's game against the Sox!

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    Otto von Ballpark

    Otto von Ballpark 20,320

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

    4 hours ago, Dodecahedron said:

    Chapman is hated?  News to me.  Soto and Chapman are two names people would recognize on a ballot, should that be how they got in.

    In 2015, Chapman had an off-field incident that resulted in a suspension and Cincinnati trading him to New York.

    Pitchers and reserves are not selected by fan balloting, just player ballots and/or the commissioner's office. That said, Gregory Soto has a brief and unimpressive career resume so far, so you may be thinking of someone else.

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    Minny505

    Minny505 630

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    On 7/6/2021 at 8:59 AM, Dodecahedron said:

    Chapman is hated?  News to me. 

    Here is why > https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/14317320/aroldis-chapman-fired-gun-accused-choking-girlfriend-domestic-violence-incident

    He seems like a completely horrible person. I can never root for a team with a player like that...like when "Sully", the podcaster from Boston, stopped following the Red Sox while they had Steven Wright on the roster. 

    Maybe that's a good rule for convicted domestic violence offenders in MLB. You can still play in the league, but you are no longer eligible for any awards, including the Allstar game. It's bad publicity for the league when horrible people have the spotlight shined on them and avoiding that situation is in the best long term interest of everyone on both sides of the CBA.
     

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