Hi! Welcome back to Mark Sheldon’s Reds Beat newsletter. Pinch-hitting for this one is Adrian Garro, a West Coast-based reporter/content producer for MLB.com covering the series against the Giants. SAN FRANCISCO -- The baseball stories of Taylor Rogers and Tyler Rogers are unshakably intertwined. That’s hardly a surprise, as they’re identical twin brothers. That sort of bond is a step above those of most siblings. With the Reds opening a series at Oracle Park in San Francisco against the Giants on Monday, it represented a reunion between the Rogers brothers, with Taylor now a key member of Cincinnati’s bullpen, opposite Tyler in the S.F. relief corps. It’s already the second series between the Reds and Giants in 2025, an early-season scheduling quirk that means this reunion will be over just as quickly as it arrived. |
“Yeah, it's kind of weird playing them Opening Day [in Cincinnati] and then turning around and coming right back here, and then for the rest of the year, I won't see him,” said Taylor before the series opener. “So I’m just trying to soak it up a little bit.” The two were teammates in San Francisco from 2023-24, options from either side out of the bullpen for the Giants -- but providing notably different looks on the mound. Tyler, of course, features one of the more unique “submarine”-style deliveries in the Majors, nearly scraping the mound with his right hand as he delivers frisbee-like pitches to the plate. Taylor, on the literal other hand, adopts a more traditional delivery. “It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done,” said Taylor of his time as Tyler’s teammate. “I’ll tell anybody, I told [Alexis] Díaz and [Matt] McLain [both of whom have brothers in professional baseball], if you ever have a chance to play with your brother, do it. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to do it.” “Just thankful for the two years we got together,” reflected Tyler to MLB.com’s Maria Guardado at Spring Training. “We did it right and enjoyed every second of it.” Growing up, did their teammates in Little League have any issues telling which Rogers was which? |
“In the beginning, they’d ask, like, ‘How do I tell you apart?’ and they never liked our answers,” said Taylor. “There’s not a particular thing, everybody’s looking for the easy shortcut. Just give it two weeks, and then you’re just gonna know. Everybody pretty much figured it out.” Hearing Taylor tell it, he enjoys Tyler’s delivery as much as everyone else. “He started throwing sidearm in college, and [his arm angle] just kept gradually falling, and now there's nowhere else to go but all the way down,” said Taylor. “He loves it. Getting to play catch with him every day, I learned it, I learned his delivery well. And we were each other’s pitching coaches, too, which was good.” The Rogers brothers’ paths diverted as they grew older, with the two not linking back up on a competitive level until the Majors. Their time together in the Giants' bullpen afforded Taylor a chance to witness his brother chase his dream firsthand while also pursuing his own. “It’s just cool to watch him,” said Taylor. “I’m his biggest fan, I always root for him, and I like to see him reach his goals and stuff. I’m kind of more excited about that than I am for myself.” |
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MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
MOM THRILLED BY GREENE'S GEM |
A Hunter Greene masterclass in pitching earned the Reds a thrilling 2-0 victory against the Giants on Monday night, snapping San Francisco’s seven-game win streak. Greene, dominant for 8 2/3 innings, fell one out short of his first nine-inning complete game and a few pitches shy of a Maddux -- and it was witnessed firsthand by a beaming Senta Greene, Hunter’s mother. “Oh my god, I have absolutely no words,” said Senta to MLB.com after the game. “It’s the greatest feeling in the entire world. To witness that tonight was incredibly special,” she said, noting that she’s watched her son pitch well many times over the years. “But tonight was incredibly special because I got a little peek even more into his potential and what he has to offer to this game.” |
It’s a small part of the game that always makes us wince as viewers: The hit-by-pitch. Jacob Hurtubise made it look like nothing at all when he took a 94.6 mph fastball from Giants reliever Camilo Doval off the right knee area on Monday. For those of us who wind up on our injured list after stubbing our toe on the coffee table, this must be an unfathomably painful experience, right? Well … sometimes. But not always, if you’re a Major Leaguer. “Last night was one of those weird instances where I think I kind of absorbed a little bit of it just the way that my knee was moving,” said Hurtubise with a smile on Tuesday. “But there’s some that hit it pretty flush. It just depends. “Some of them hurt a lot, but my thing is I got on base, so that's what I'm excited about.” In the moment, it’s all about getting the job done -- even if that job is taking a baseball thrown at a high velocity directly off the body. “I always try to tough it out,” said Hurtubise. “I don't want to show the pitcher that I'm in any sort of pain at all. So you take it and just go down to first base.” |
COME OUT TO GABP THIS WEEKEND |
The Reds return home this weekend to host the Pirates. Saturday night’s game features an Elly De La Cruz switch-hitting bobblehead giveaway, with either a right-handed-hitting or left-handed-hitting De La Cruz handed out to fans in attendance while supplies last. Sunday is a Family Discount Day, while Tuesday against the Mariners is Jackie Robinson Day and will feature a special patch handed out to fans in attendance (while supplies last). |
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“Never. I think you set yourself up for letdowns that way. Just play the game." -- Manager Terry Francona, when asked if he considered the difficulty of the Reds’ schedule as they began the season 4-7 |
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