BALTIMORE — The Detroit Tigers are breaking apart, bit by bit; a backup catcher perhaps giving way to a franchise icon and, perhaps most of a starting rotation.
Life is coming at them fast on Woodward Avenue, to the point Jake Rogers didn't even get to bid Tarik Skubal goodbye.
The two-time Cy Young Award winning pitcher and his longtime personal catcher met at the alternate site during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, grew up through Rogers' career-high 21-homer season until the emergence of All-Star Dillon Dingler pushed Rogers to the margins and, finally, resulted in his getting designated for assignment Tuesday, July 28.
A day later, Skubal made perhaps his final start as Detroit Tiger before the club likely deals him in a blockbuster move before the trade
deadline. The ace got emotional when discussing Rogers.
Finally, the two exchanged text messages and then, come Friday, July 31, Rogers found himself back in a pennant race, activated by the Baltimore Orioles before a huge series against Philadelphia.
The wounds in Detroit are still a little raw after Rogers was dispatched to make room for Javier Baez's return form the injured list.
"I love Skoob to death," Rogers said Friday at Camden Yards. "He made it known that he was going to miss me, and I made it known I was going to miss him. It’s going to happen eventually. To happen the way it did was a little iffy. It’s all a business and they had to do it.
"I feel like I’ve grown up with him. Met him for the first time at the alternate site. We just had such a good relationship since then. Just a really good human and a hardworking human."
Skubal's fate was likely sealed after he left Wednesday's game against, oddly enough, Baltimore, when the Tigers blew all of a 7-0 lead and lost 10-9 in 12 innings. Their apparent teardown gained momentum Friday when the club announced former All-Star Casey Mize was scratched from his start at West Sacramento, the better to keep him and his balky groin healthy before the trade deadline.
That's what happens when a team loses 22 of 28 games in May, sits at 51-58 three days before the deadline and has apparently lost all faith from the front office they can eventually get it going.
Rogers was there in 2024, when the club sold at the trade deadline – most notably, starter Jack Flaherty, who won a World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers – and then finished 34-19, sneaked into the postseason and upset the Houston Astros in the AL wild card series.
"Hey look, that team has been in that situation before," says Rogers. "In ’24, we sold everybody and all of a sudden made an incredible run. Baseball is an incredible sport where anything can happen in any clubhouse. Their expectations for this year – obviously the month of May they had was tough and put them in a hole they are now.
"They know it’s a business, just like I did."
Then again, that team had Skubal. In a few days, he'll likely be gone – along with several others.
"They know it’s possible to get traded, too,' says Rogers. "Maybe it’ll hurt for a couple days, but they’ll get over it."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Tigers are breaking up. Jake Rogers didn't get a chance to say goodbye.
