Kevin Rogers

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=darkblue
bgcolor2=maroon
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Kevin Rogers
position=Pitcher
bats=Left
throws=Left
birthdate=birth date and age|1968|8|20
debutdate=September 4
debutyear=by|1992
debutteam=San Francisco Giants
finaldate=May 1
finalyear=by|1994
finalteam=San Francisco Giants
stat1label=ERA
stat1value=3.17
stat2label=Record
stat2value=2-4
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=95
teams=
*San Francisco Giants (1992-1994)
highlights=

Charles Kevin Rogers (born August 20, 1968 in Cleveland, Mississippi) is a former lefthanded Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the San Francisco Giants from 1992 to 1994.

Prior to being drafted by the Giants in the ninth round of the 1988 amateur draft, Rogers attended Cleveland High School and then Mississippi Delta Community College.

He began his professional career as a starter in 1988 with the Pocatello Giants, going 2-8 with a 6.20 ERA in 13 starts. Although his season as a whole was unimpressive, he did strikeout 71 batters in 69 2/3 innings of work, which is a notable accomplishment.

In 1989, he greatly improved overall. Pitching for the Clinton Giants, Rogers made 29 appearances, starting 28 of the games. He went 13-8 with a 2.55 ERA, while allowing only 128 hits in 169 1/3 innings of work and striking out 168 batters.

Rogers had another impressive year in 1990, going 14-5 with a 3.61 ERA while striking out 186 batters in 172 innings. Although he walked only 68 batters and allowed only 143 hits, he did throw 19 wild pitches, which is a rather high amount.

In 22 games for the Shreveport Captains in 1991, Rogers went 4-6 with a 3.36 ERA. He also struck out 108 batters in 118 innings of work. He was ranked the 89th best prospect by Baseball America in 1991.

Rogers split time between the Shreveport Captains and Phoenix Firebirds in 1992, going a combined 11-8 with a 3.16 ERA. In 170 2/3 innings, he struck out 172 batters while walking only 51. On September 4 of that year, he made his big league debut. Facing Ozzie Smith and the rest of the St. Louis Cardinals, Rogers pitched six innings, allowing three earned runs on eight hits and two walks. He allowed one home run, which he gave up to the first batter he faced – Geronimo Pena. Although he had proven himself to be a strikeout pitcher in the minors, he struck out only one batter in his first major league start – that batter being Ray Lankford. Rogers pitched respectably in his first major league season, going 0-2 with a 4.24 ERA in six starts. He struck out 26 batters in 34 innings of work.

Although Rogers had been a starter throughout his entire career, he found his niche as a reliever in 1993. In 64 relief appearances, he went 2-2 with a 2.68 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 80 2/3 innings of work. In 1993, he was ranked the 50th best prospect by Baseball America.

While Rogers was a promising player, his major league career didn’t last very long – in fact, 1994 was his final season. He made only nine relief appearances due to a clot in his pitching shoulder [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_n5_v218/ai_15610195] , posting a 3.48 ERA in 10 1/3 innings of work. He played his final big league game on May 1 of that year.

Despite never pitching in the majors again, Rogers pitched in the minors until 1998. In 1995, he appeared in a total of seven games - five of which were starts – while splitting time between San Jose and Phoenix. Combined, he went 0-2 with a 2.51 ERA in 14 1/3 innings of work. He struck out a total of six batters.

Pitching for San Jose in 1997 (he missed all of 1996), Rogers went 0-0 with a 2.76 ERA in eight games started. In 29 1/3 innings of work, he struck out 27 batters. He also pitched a few games in the Atlanta Braves organization that year, for the Richmond Braves. He made 10 relief appearances for them, going 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA. Combined, he went 0-2 with a 4.02 ERA. In 40 1/3 innings of work, he struck out 36 batters.

1998 would be Rogers’ final season in professional baseball. Used almost entirely as a reliever, he made 40 total appearances for the Bakersfield Blaze, Shreveport Captains and Fresno Grizzlies. He went 2-1 with a 5.03 ERA in 62 2/3 innings of work, striking out 52 batters.

Overall, Kevin Rogers went 2-4 with a 3.17 ERA in 79 major league appearances. In 125 innings, he allowed 118 hits, struck out 95 batters and walked 47 batters. In eight minor league seasons, Rogers went 46-40 with a 3.59 ERA in 184 games (131 starts). In 817 innings, he allowed only 744 hits, walking 321 batters and striking out 799.

References

* [http://search.baseballamerica.com/?q=%22Kevin+Rogers%22 Baseball America]
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/rogerke02.shtml Baseball-Reference.com]
* [http://thebaseballcube.com/players/R/Kevin-Rogers.shtml The Baseball Cube]