Red Sox pitching prospect Dalton Rogers put together one of the best starts of his young career for High-A Greenville on Wednesday night.
Going up against the Greensboro Grasshoppers at Fluor Field, Rogers struck out 11 and walked only one over six scoreless, no-hit innings. The right-hander took a perfect game bid into the fourth before issuing a two-out walk to Will Matthiessen. He then retired seven of the last eight batters he faced.
Finishing with 78 pitches (50 strikes), Rogers induced 17 swings-and-misses, the third-most for any pitcher at the High-A level on Wednesday. The 22-year-old also earned his first winning decision with Greenville as the Drive went on to defeat the Grasshoppers by a final score of 5-2.
In four starts for the Drive now, Rogers has posted a 2.75 ERA and 1.07 WHP with 27 strikeouts to 13 walks across 19 2/3 innings in which he has held opposing hitters to a .121 batting average against. This comes after he forged a 2.49 ERA in six starts (21 2/3 innings) to start the season with Low-A Salem and was promoted to Greenville in late May.
Rogers was selected by the Red Sox in the third round (99th overall pick) of last year’s amateur draft out of Southern Mississippi. A native of the Magnolia state himself, Rogers signed with the club for $447,500. He is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 26 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks ninth among pitchers in the organization.
Standing at 5-foot-11 and 172 pounds, Rogers throws from a three-quarters arm slot and operates with a three-pitch mix that consists of a 93-94 mph fastball that tops out at 96 mph, an 81-83 mph changeup, and an 82-84 mph slider. As indicated in his Baseball America scouting report, Rogers’ command of the strike zone remains a work in progress, so that will be something to monitor moving forward.
Rogers, who does not turn 23 until next January, is one of five members of the Red Sox’ 2022 draft class on Greenville’s active roster. Fellow lefty Nathan Landry, right-handers Isaac Coffey and Alex Hoppe, and recently-promoted outfielder Roman Anthony are the others.
(Picture of Dalton Rogers via the Greenville Drive)
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