Tigers’ Jake Rogers Sidelined Indefinitely Following IL Stint Due to Oblique Injury
It’ll be a while before catcher Jake Rogers returns to the Detroit Tigers’ lineup after being placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with left oblique tightness.
Rogers was originally slated to catch Tigers ace Tarik Skubal in the second of a three-game series against the New York Yankees at Comerica Park. But the right-handed-hitting backstop was ultimately scratched before first pitch after feeling his oblique tighten during pre-game batting practice.
Detroit recalled veteran catcher Tomas Nido from triple-A Toledo in a corresponding move, with the 31-year-old expected to serve in a backup role moving forward.
“It was a pretty classic [oblique] issue with his side, and he was in a little bit of pain,” manager A.J. Hinch told reporters Tuesday, including MLB.com’s Jason Beck. “We had a little consultation with our training department, and it was an immediate IL [move], just based on their initial read.”
Unfortunately for the Tigers, this won’t be a brief IL stint for Rogers, who’s expected to miss at least a month due to his oblique injury, as Hinch added Wednesday morning.
That means Dillon Dingler will receive an extended opportunity as the club’s starting catcher over the next several weeks. He entered this season with just 27 games of major league experience, all coming last season following his late-July call-up.
“Obviously, we’re going to miss Rog,” Hinch said. “Rog is a big part of what we do, and he catches a lot of wins. Ding’s going to get the lion’s share of the reps, and Tomas is going to play.”
“It wasn’t too long ago I was getting asked how we’re going to get Dingler in the lineup more. Unfortunately, this is how it is. But given that we had two starting catchers, this is now going to be tested with a different part of our depth.”
The 26-year-old catcher struggled at the plate during his first taste of the majors in 2024, posting a disappointing .167/.195/.310 slash line across 87 plate appearances while striking out over a third of the time. But he’s already off to an impressive start in ‘25.
Entering Wednesday’s series finale versus New York, Dingler has gone 8-for-22 (.364) with three extra-base hits and seven RBIs – four shy of matching last season’s total – over his first seven contests. He’s already gone deep twice, including Tuesday’s solo blast off right-hander Carlos Carrasco.
The Tigers also placed outfielder Manuel Margot on the 10-day IL with left knee inflammation on Tuesday, adding to the club’s early-season injury woes, particularly on the position-player front.
Detroit’s list of injured players – which already included Gleyber Torres (oblique), Parker Meadows (upper arm inflammation), Wenceel Pérez (back) and Matt Vierling (shoulder) on the hitting side – has since added Rogers and Margot to the rapidly-growing group.
That’s without including the team’s pitching injuries, featuring Alex Cobb (hip), Ty Madden (shoulder), Sawyer Gipson-Long (elbow surgery), José Urquidy (Tommy John surgery) and Alex Lange (lat surgery).
And yet, the Tigers have managed to overcome those hurdles amidst an impressive 7-4 start to the season, good for first in the jam-packed AL Central. They’re currently riding a five-game winning streak, with a chance to extend that to six during Wednesday’s series finale versus the Yankees.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Jeffrey Hyde. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.