The moment could have faded away from Trevor Rogers in the second inning. The same could be said in the fourth. Rogers, a 6-6 lefty and the Miami Marlins' first-round pick in 2017, found himself in trouble in his Major League Baseball debut Tuesday night against the New York Mets.
But Rogers, nerves and occasional command issues included, stayed true to himself and got out of both self-induced jams and walked off the mound without giving up a run while in an early pitchers' duel with Mets spot starter Seth Lugo.
Eventually, Rogers finally got the support he needed from the offense and the Marlins swept their doubleheader against the Mets with a 3-0 win at Citi Field in seven innings. Miami, now 14-11 on the season, won the first game 4-0. All doubleheader games in 2020 are seven-inning contests.
Rogers, the ninth-ranked prospect in the Marlins' organization according to MLB Pipeline and one of three ranked in the top-10 who was in the organization prior to the Bruce Sherman/Derek Jeter ownership group taking over, struck out six and held the Mets scoreless over four innings despite giving up one hit and walking five.
He is the 15th Marlins player to make his MLB debut this year, including the sixth ranked among the top-11 prospects in the organization and the fourth to do so as a starting pitcher following Sixto Sanchez, Humberto Mejia and Daniel Castano. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the franchise record for most debuts in a single season is 16, done during the 2010 season.
He is also the 11 pitcher to start a game for the Marlins this year. For context, they used 10 starting pitchers all of last season and the club record is 13, which has been done five times (2018, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2004).
His first pitch was a 93.2 mph four-seam fastball for a strike against Brandon Nimmo.
His first strikeout came on a 95.3 mph fastball above the zone that got J.D. Davis to whiff in the first. He'd strike out three consecutive batters, including getting Pete Alonso to chase on a high fastball to start the second after working back from being down 3-0 in the count, before getting into trouble in the second.
A Dominic Smith walk, Jeff McNeil fielder's choice, Amed Rosario single that popped out of Jesus Sanchez glove in right field and another walk to Luis Guillorme loaded the bases with two outs. Rogers' response to cap a 28-pitch inning and get out unscathed: A five-pitch strikeout to catcher Ali Sanchez.
Rogers would show that composure again in the fourth. He gave up back-to-back walks to Smith and McNeil to start the frame before needing 15 pitches to get three consecutive outs (Rosario flyout to right, Guillorme strikeout looking and Ali Sanchez flyout to center) to close out his debut.
Rogers threw 87 pitches over four innings. Twenty-seven of those pitches (or 31 percent) were called strikes or swings and misses. His fastball averaged 94.4 mph and touched 96 four times. He also mixed in a slider, changeup and sinker.
The Marlins, who were retired in order in each of the first three innings, finally broke through in the fourth after the Mets (12-16) lifted Lugo and went to the bullpen.
Brian Anderson, trying to break out of a mini slump, laced a double down the third-base line that scored Jon Berti and Corey Dickerson. It was Anderson's third double of the day after hitting two in the first game.
Berti tacked on an insurance in the sixth after drawing a walk and then stealing second, third and home. He became the first Marlins player in club history to steal three bases in an inning.
