Rogers was drafted by San Antonio in the 1st round of the 2055 amateur draft with the 6th overall pick. He was a mostly developed 21 year old college prospect having spent 3 years at Coca-Cola university. His strikeout totals and high ERA+ were positive factors in selecting the college pitcher over some other options at the time. He finished the ’55 season in AA Beaumont and struggled a bit with a 7.18 ERA in 11 starts. He continued on in AA Beaumont to start the ’56 season but did much better going 5-0 over 6 starts posting a 2.82 ERA. He definitely earned a promotion to AAA Austin to finish out the rest of the minor league season. He went 5-7 over his 15 starts in Austin with a 4.70 ERA with 75 k’s over 103.1 innings pitched. He ended on a high note earning the win in 3 of his last 4 starts pitching 7+ innings in each of the games. It was enough for Outlaw management to get him up to the big club for September.
Griz compiled two starts so far facing tough squads in Las Vegas and Mexico City, not the easiest of teams to christen him into the BBA universe. His first ever start in the big leagues was against Las Vegas on September 7th and he showed a glimpse of what the top brass loved about him. He pitched 7 strong innings striking out 7 giving up 4 hits and 2 walks with only 1 earned run. He notched the win and was greeted with a whipped cream pie in the face by clubhouse prankster Jeremy Owbridge. Rogers had this to say in his player of the game interview.
“Pitching for the Outlaws is a dream come true. Honestly. To come from Yigo and to make it is just a dream man, just a dream. There are more people at the game every night than in my entire province back home so it is a bit surreal. This one is for Guam!”
The Guamanian followed up his first start with another good outing against Mexico City going 6+ innings with 3 strikeouts along with 5 hits and a lone walk. His strong start allowed the Outlaws to win the game. His two quality starts shows what he may be capable of. The future could be bright in San Antonio.
