Kevin Rogers
Encyclopedia
Charles Kevin Rogers is a former left-handed Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 pitcher who played for the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

 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
Cleveland High School (Cleveland, Mississippi)
Cleveland High School is a public high school serving 562 students in grades 9-12, located in Cleveland, Mississippi.Many students come from Margret Green Junior High School.-Athletics:...

 and then Mississippi Delta Community College
Mississippi Delta Community College
Mississippi Delta Community College is a community college based in Moorhead, Mississippi which is located in Sunflower County. It also offers courses at locations in Drew, Greenville, Greenwood, and Indianola, Mississippi. Its mascot is the Trojan warrior. The college's president is Dr. Larry G....

.

He began his professional career as a starter in 1988 with the Pocatello Giants
Pocatello Giants
The Pocatello Giants were a professional minor league baseball team located in Pocatello, Idaho. The team played in the Rookie-level Pioneer League, and were affiliated with the San Francisco Giants for the 1988 and 1989 seasons; prior affiliation was with the Oakland A's. The home stadium was...

, 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
Baseball America
Baseball America is a magazine which covers baseball at every level, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in high school, college, Japan, and the minor leagues. It is currently published in the form of a bi-weekly newspaper, five annual reference book titles, a weekly podcast, and a...

 in 1991.

Rogers split time between the Shreveport Captains and Phoenix Firebirds
Phoenix Firebirds
The Phoenix Firebirds, formerly the Phoenix Giants, were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Phoenix, Arizona, USA from 1958-1959, and 1966 until 1997....

 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
Ozzie Smith
Osborne Earl "Ozzie" Smith is an American former baseball shortstop who played in Major League Baseball for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals from 1978 to 1996...

 and the rest of the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

, 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
Geronimo Pena
Gerónimo Peña Martínez , is a retired professional baseball player who played second base in the major leagues from 1990-1996....

. 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
Ray Lankford
Raymond Lewis Lankford and grew up in Modesto, California where he attended Grace M. Davis High School. Ray was a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres from to . He was known for his combination of power, speed, and defensive...

. 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
Baseball America
Baseball America is a magazine which covers baseball at every level, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in high school, college, Japan, and the minor leagues. It is currently published in the form of a bi-weekly newspaper, five annual reference book titles, a weekly podcast, and a...

.

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
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....

 organization that year, for the Richmond Braves
Richmond Braves
The Richmond Braves were the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves and played in the International League. Colloquially referred to as the R-Braves, they were based in Richmond, Virginia, where they played from 1966, when the Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta where their AAA team, the Crackers,...

. 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
Bakersfield Blaze
The Bakersfield Blaze are a minor league baseball team in Bakersfield, California, USA. They are a Class A – Advanced team in the California League and are a farm team of the Cincinnati Reds. The Bakersfield Blaze play their home games at Historic Sam Lynn Ballpark...

, Shreveport Captains and Fresno Grizzlies
Fresno Grizzlies
The Fresno Grizzlies are a minor league baseball team based in Fresno, California. The team, which plays in the Pacific Coast League , is the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club. The Grizzlies play in Chukchansi Park , located in downtown Fresno and built in 2002...

. 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.
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