Right-handed hitters causing Rogers trouble in new role

DENVER – Josh Rogers is the only left-hander in the Nationals bullpen right now, a product of Sean Doolittle’s elbow injury and the inconsistent performances of Sam Clay and Francisco Pérez, which resulted in the recent demotion of both relievers to Triple-A Rochester.

Rogers is pitching out of the bullpen for the first time in his career, having been moved out of the rotation because of his struggles there. So all this is new for the 27-year-old.

If there’s one thing the Nats want from Rogers in this role, though, it’s for him to consistently get left-handed batters out. And in that regard, he’s been excellent. Lefties are a measly 1-for-21 against him this season, equating to a miniscule .048 batting average.

Rogers is not, however, the old-fashioned left-handed relief specialist from days of yore. With all relievers now required to face three batters (or finish an inning), he has no choice but to square off with some right-handed batters as well. And the results have not been pretty: Righties are batting a robust .327 (16-for-49) off him.

Three of those 16 hits have been home runs, including the killer, three-run shot Brendan Rodgers produced at a critical moment during Thursday’s 9-7 loss to the Rockies.

“I mean, he hammered that ball,” Rogers said of the 438-foot blast to center field in the bottom of the fifth. “He hammered that.”

That was literally Rogers’ only mistake during a relief appearance that saw him retire five of the six batters he faced, three via strikeout. Trouble is, unlike in a starting role, one mistake in a relief appearance can result in disaster.

Rogers has been careful not to speak critically of the team’s decision to move him out of the rotation and into the bullpen. And when asked Thursday if it’s been a difficult adjustment to switch roles like this, he was careful not to say anything that might come across the wrong way.

“I mean, I’m not going to sit here and make an excuse and say that it is,” he said. “But you can talk to any pitcher and it’s completely different. It’s a different mindset. It’s just an adjustment for me, and it’s something I’m trying to work through and kind of figure out. It’s different than the fact that I felt like I threw the ball good today, but I cost the team the game ’cause I make one bad pitch, which sucks.”

That one bad pitch was a 1-2 slider, the sixth pitch of the at-bat. And it wasn’t initially suggested by Keibert Ruiz. The young catcher called for a fastball, only to switch to the slider after Rogers shook him off.

The slider is Rogers’ best out pitch … to left-handed batters. It’s far less effective against righties, because the ball breaks in toward them instead of away.

“He threw too many sliders,” manager Davey Martinez said. “But he’s done it as a starter. I know he can do it, but he’s got to understand who he is still in the bullpen. That’s against lefties, sliders. Against righties, changeups and two-seamers. He didn’t have to throw that many sliders.”

Rogers took full responsibility for the ill-advised shake-off of his catcher and admitted he should’ve thrown a different pitch. But he wasn’t about to concede defeat facing right-handed batters in general, insisting he’s had success against them in the past and will continue to have success now as a reliever.

“I’m just saying I faced righties my whole entire life, so it’s not like I’m scared to face a right-handed hitter,” he said. “It’s just I match up better with lefties. I’m going to try to do whatever I can to help this team and get us going in the right direction. Unfortunately, today it just sucks that I made a terrible pitch and he clipped me. Obviously, that’s one I want back. But like I said, I’ll take full responsibility for that one.”