The Baltimore Orioles activated Jake Rogers on Friday, July 31, giving them an immediate catching option as they head into a series against Philadelphia and try to cover for injuries to Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo. For Rogers, it is a return to a contender and a reunion with Mike Elias, the executive who drafted him.
Elias said Rogers is going to be catching a lot in the next few days, and the timing makes sense. The Orioles needed another experienced catcher right away, and Rogers arrived after the Detroit Tigers designated him for assignment on July 28 to make room for Javier Baez’s return from the injured list.
The move also carries a familiar edge. Rogers came through the Houston Astros system, was sent to the Detroit Tigers in the 2017 deal for Justin Verlander, and now lands back with Elias, who was then the Astros scouting director and is now the Orioles president. He and Tarik Skubal first met at the alternate site during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and Rogers said he felt as if he had grown up with him.
Rogers’ path out of Detroit was not hard to read. Dillon Dingler’s emergence had pushed him toward the margins, even though he had been a steady part of the catching mix and a presence in the clubhouse. The Tigers, though, have made a habit of testing the edge of that kind of decision. They sold at the 2024 trade deadline, then finished 34-19 and snuck into the postseason before upsetting the Houston Astros in the AL wild card series.
That history hangs over them again now. Three days before the deadline, they were 51-58, and they were already making more roster moves, including Casey Mize being scratched from his start at West Sacramento. The front office has reasons to consider every piece, but Rogers is gone and Skubal remains the bigger question. Detroit can keep talking through the deadline, but Rogers’ move is already done: Baltimore needed catching help, and it found it in a player it expects to use right away.
