Per Goold, the Cards have invited 26 year old LHP Joe Rogers to minor league camp.
What’s so special about that?
He’s a knuckleballer, one of the last of a dying breed. Rogers was signed by the organization as a non-drafted free agent as a 19 year old. Rogers pitched for Johnson City in ‘01, and Peoria in ‘02 and ‘03. He was released before the ‘04 season, although it wasn’t because he didn’t achieve results, he had a 1.92 FIP in 112.2 IP in relief. Maybe they just didn’t think he had a real shot. The Red Sox gave him that shot. Between A+ and AA, Rogers had 62 K’s to 58 BB in 99 innings. Cut again, he’s bounced around in the indy leagues since.
I was watching Charlie Haeger earlier today, and I just can’t help but to root for the guy. I hate the Red Sox with a fiery hot passion, but if Wakefield is playing, I will watch. And I’m hoping to see Rule 5 pick R.A. Dickey latch on with the Mariners. I stand amazed Charlie Hough and Joe Niekro pitching into their mid-forties. Heck, I may even try to teach my kid to throw one (unless of course, he somehow turns out to be really athletic, which would make me question if he’s really my son). Knucklers are a fun and unpredictable lot, and I’d like to see at least a few more of them in the game.
Float it, Joe.
Filed under: Transactions | Tagged: Joe Rogers, knuckleballers
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
I’m with you: knuckleballers are fun to watch. They ain’t easy to hit, either. You wonder why more marginal minor league pitchers, whose careers look doomed to end at the A-ball level, don’t fool around with the knuckler as a last resort before giving up the dream. Sure, it’s a long shot, but if you’ve just gone 4-7 at low A with a 5+ ERA and a WHIP approaching 2, what’s the harm in trying?
That said, is there anybody in the Cardinals’ minor-league coaching staffs that can actually help the kid learn to throw the thing?
I wish their were more knuckleballers in the game.
GO JOE!
I tried to learn it once; it’s a damned hard pitch to throw. Even Wakefield, who’s pretty much extended his career by a decade with the knuckler, has trouble with it at times.
I tried to learn it once; it’s a damned hard pitch to throw. Even Wakefield, who’s extended his career by a decade with it, has trouble with the knuckler at times.
I am with Forsch on this one. This is a really tough pitch to throw. I screw around with it when I throwing batting practice and I get about one out of ten to do anything. It takes a lot of touch and I think it helps to have porportionally long fingers (kinda true for any pitcher). So start pulling on your kids fingers and see if they will grow a little longer…
The longest ball I ever hit in high school was on a knuckler (it went foul). The guy had me 0-2 and was blowing my team away and so (I assume) he thought he could get away with throwing it as a goof. It had zero spin, but it didn’t move at all. I absolutely crushed it, but it was foul down the left field line by about ten feet. I’m pretty sure I struck out on the next pitch.
I was surprised to see that Joe Rogers is a *lefty* knuckleballer, too. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of a lefthander throwing the knuckler.
The first time I ever saw one, I was playing catch with my high school team’s closer. He’d been whipping four seamers for twenty minutes when this thing comes dancing my way. I swear it leapt two feet towards my face over its last five feet of travel. Lucky I kept all my teeth that afternoon.