“Now batting for the Chicago White Sox,” the public address announcer said on Saturday, Aug. 15. “Please welcome back to Comerica Park, the catcher, No. 28, Jake Rogers.”
Whoa, this was just freakin’ weird.
Rogers, the former beloved Detroit Tiger, stood near home plate, holding his bat; and Tigers fans gave him a wonderful, genuine, richly-deserved ovation. He tipped his helmet and waved but it didn’t stop there.
Troy Melton, the Tigers starting pitcher, waited behind the mound – a show of respect and class, letting the ovation continue.
“He obviously meant a lot to everybody in this locker room,” Melton said after the White Sox beat the Tigers, 4-3. “Can’t be overstated how important he was, just personally helping me become a Major Leaguer. Not only the stuff on the field, but off it. He was a big part of this room and a big leader.”
The crowd kept applauding, appreciating everything Rogers did for the Tigers. He was the ultimate pro, the ultimate teammate, mentoring Dillon Dingler, a confidant to the pitching staff, a leader in every sense.
Eduardo Valencia, the Tigers new backup catcher, stood at home plate and clapped his glove, as Rogers’ walk-up song blared over the speakers:
“’Cause I got friends in low places
Where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases
My blues away.”
Rogers looked down at the dirt, and if I had to guess, he was trying to contain his own emotions. He tipped his helmet and waved again.
“Baseball has a weird way of explaining itself sometimes,” Rogers had told reporters Saturday morning. “It’s a crazy full-circle moment to be here with them, if you’re just playing them with Boston and being here playing Detroit.”
Yes, baseball can be weird. And there’s more to come soon. Tarik Skubal is expected to be back in Comerica Park with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Aug. 28-30.
“This collection of players hasn’t quite seen the return of some homegrown players,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said, acknowledging Rogers wasn’t technically fully homegrown – he was traded by Houston to the Tigers in the 2017 Justin Verlander trade, but Rogers did grow up in the Tigers’ system. “Everybody loves Jake and so I really applaud our group, our fanbase for acknowledging the time that that Jake spent here.”
But this was no time for nostalgia. It was a tricky moment. There were two on, no outs, 1-1 game. Rogers bunted out in front of the plate. Melton fielded it, as Valencia screamed: “Three! Three! Three!”
It was a tremendous, gutsy, instinctual call by Valencia – Rogers replacement – but I’ll get back to that in a second.
Melton spun and threw an absolute seed to third, getting the lead runner. Then, third baseman Hao-Yu Lee fired across the diamond and completed the double play, as Gleyber Torres stretched for the ball finishing an amazing double play.
“Troy’s not an easy guy to bunt,” Hinch said. “Then when we get the lead out, we felt great for Lee to be able to redirect it and get the double play.”
Eduardo Valencia, my goodness, keeps raking
Yes, baseball is weird.
Because all of this is tied together. That’s how it seems to work in baseball. A full circle inside a full circle.
You know why the Tigers were able to move on from Rogers, designating him for assignment and then trading him to Baltimore (before he went to Boston and then Chicago)?
Because Valencia had looked so promising and the Tigers wanted to see more of him.
Since then? My goodness. Valencia has turned into must-watch TV every time he comes up.
In the bottom of the first, he singled to center, driving in the Tigers’ first run.
Then, he homered to left in the fourth inning.
“He’s such a good threat,” Hinch said. “Obviously, not trying to do too much early. Gets the single with two outs, which was a huge pick me up, and then the pull side homer.”
Valencia, 26, is hitting .404 (21-for-52) with six homers, six doubles, 17 RBIs and a ridiculous 1.291 OPS – the highest of any MLB hitter with at least 50 plate appearances in 2026.
And if that’s all he did, it would be astonishing.
But there’s more. He started at catcher on a day when Melton didn’t have his best stuff. Every time you looked up, the aggressive White Sox had guys on base or were threatening. But Valencia handled it like a vet, framing pitches, guiding pitchers through all of those messes, making the aggressive call on the bunt. He even threw a guy out at second on a steal attempt in the ninth.
“I thought he did a pretty good job working his way through the through the game, which was a tough game to catch,” Hinch said. “There was traffic everywhere, there were guys on base. Those are huge moments where he’s trying to do everything right… I think he did a great job on both sides and continues to contribute.”
So, if you zoom back and look at the big picture, you see Rogers leave, Valencia take his job, Rogers return and Valencia became of the star of the game for the Tigers.
So, even though Dingler has gone six straight games without a hit (0-for-26) and Riley Greene is out with a hamstring injury, the Tigers are getting contributions from others.
Like Valencia.
Not to mention Ben Malgeri, who had two homers Friday night. And he’s playing more because Greene is hurt.
Baseball is weird like that.
It always seems to come full circle.
No reason to freak out … yet
Now, a word here about this series.
Yes, the White Sox have won two straight in a series where the Tigers could have jumped into first place with a sweep. Instead, the Tigers (60-63) fell to 4½ games behind the first-place White Sox (64-58) in the American League Central race.
Is this series a tremendous opportunity? Obviously.
Is this series season defining? No. Not with 39 games left.
Not for a Tigers team that has been playing really good baseball for a couple months.
So, does Hinch think this will be deflating?
“You watch this team play,” Hinch replied. “Have you ever seen them deflated? Not really, right? I mean, that’s kind of where what we’re about.”
Remember, the Tigers will play the White Sox five more times: on Sunday in Comerica Park and then a four-game series at Chicago, Sept. 17-20.
“I’ve just never seen this team pout, and I love that about this group,” Hinch said. “We’re still right in the thick of everything, and our team knows that because we’ve been clawing at this deficit for the better part of the season, so the threat of deflation should be zero, given previous behavior that I’ve watched this team go through a lot.”
So, even though the Tigers have lost two straight, it would be crazy to make too much of it.
There’s no reason to freak out – OK, maybe a little.
For one reason: for anyone who is tired of the journey this team has been on. A nice little surge into first would have been refreshing. More roller-coaster? That’s exhausting.
Because missed opportunities have a way of adding up.
Just remember, there are so many big moments left.
Like Skubal’s return to Comerica with the Dodgers.
Oh boy, now that’s gonna be crazy. But in a strange way, the Tigers are more prepared for it now.
Like that wise old philosopher once said: Baseball has a weird way of explaining itself sometimes.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Jake Rogers’ return to Comerica Park will only help Tigers soon
Reporting by Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
