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While in high school in Central Florida, Rodgers committed to Florida State University
The Rodgers household was one of soccer players. Brendan’s dad, Greg, played and coached soccer and both of Brendan’s brothers did. But one day, Ralph Nenna, a neighbor of the Rodgers and the father of Brendan’s best friend, asked Brendan to pick up a baseball and just see if he liked the game.
Brendan was five years old. He picked up the ball and hasn’t let it go.
“We didn’t do baseball in this family; we’re a soccer family,” said Julie Rodgers, Brendan’s mother, “but we always say to Ralph, ‘If not because of you, Brendan would not have played baseball.’
“Brendan picked up the little ball and never picked up a soccer ball,” she said.
Rodgers played other sports, too, such as basketball, football, but nothing grabbed him like baseball. (December 11, 2014 -Vince Lara-Cinisom)
In 2015, Brendan learned how to play golf. And he likes to go fishing with his father and an uncle. He also plays Ping-Pong.
The youngest of three brothers, Rodgers grew up in Florida in a family that gave soccer the most attention. Brendan, however, was drawn to baseball as soon as he began playing the game. Coincidentally, one of his early travel ball coaches was former Rockies outfielder Dante Bichette.
"I started to really love the game when I was 11 or 12 years old," said Rodgers, who picked up tips at shortstop by watching Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Jeter on television. "That's when I knew baseball was what I wanted to do. I kept playing other sports until I was about 14, but I started focusing on baseball when I was in eighth grade. I came a long way during that time. I was very tiny, skinny, not mature at all. I knew I had to make a change and get bigger and stronger and faster. I made that change and it paid off."
Rodgers has a strong work ethic to go with his natural talent. And he has great instincts and feel for the game.
And he's a leader who sets a very good example
Gerber said some scouts have mistaken that for being laid back or lazy. Until they watch Rodgers glide after a ground ball up the middle or drive a 93-mph fastball to the gap. "When the ball is hit hard, he doesn’t rush,” said Gerber, who has seen Rodgers blossom since he came to the Scorpions as a talented 14-year-old.
“When the ball’s hit soft he doesn’t rush. He plays the game at the same temperature every time. That’s what the great one’s do.” Rodgers said he’s always played that way. He patterns his game after Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra for their relaxed ease on the field and exemplary conduct off the diamond.
“I don’t try to attack the game,” Rodgers said. “I try to slow down the game as much as possible and make it as easy as possible. I try not to let the pressure or nervousness get to me or think about people watching me. I’m just out there having fun.” (Fall, 2014)
Brendan is low-key and humble. But in 2015, his first year in pro ball, evaluators were disappointed with his low energy level, subpar conditioning, as well as recurring foot, hip and hamstring injuries that kept him out of games. The hope is that, because he was 19 years old, maturity would take over.
Rodgers favorite player: "It has to be Derek Jeter. I have watched the Yankees play but I don’t like the Yankees. I just like Derek Jeter. I am actually a Red Sox fan, which is weird. He is a perfect example of a role model on and off the field. He signs for kids and when I met him, he looked me straight in the eye and talked to me for a few minutes before his game. And he has more than 3,000 hits. He is a good role model to be inspired by."
And Brendan loves everything about the game of baseball.
"The park is my home away from home,” he said. “I live for the big moments in games where you have to figure out what a hard-throwing pitcher might do to you in a key situation. If I’m up there with the chance to get the game-winning hit, or I’m on-deck when the game’s on the line, that’s the spot I want to be in. I love those types of challenges and feel like I can succeed most of the time."
June 2015: Rodgers was the Rockies #1 pick (#3 overall), out of Lake Mary High School in Florida. He was chosen behind only Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman, both also shortstops.
And Brendan signed for a below-slot bonus of $5.5 million, with the slot being $6.2 million, via scout John Cedarburg.
Rodgers signed his contract in Denver, where he was able to meet Rockies All-Star Troy Tulowitzki. Rodgers, of course, hopes to one day occupy Tulowitzki's spot at shortstop at Coors Field.
"He gave me some pretty helpful hints," Rodgers said. "I have his phone number and we talk a little bit. He asks how I'm doing. He just gave me some helpful tips—to always have fun and to play hard. Someone is always watching.
"I don't really feel much pressure or nervousness really at all. When I'm in the batter's box, I don't hear anything. I just see the pitcher. People are yelling, talking good or bad about you, but I don't even hear my parents cheering. I'm in a tunnel, basically—just me and the pitcher. That's an advantage."
In 2016, the Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated Rodgers as the 3rd-best prospect in the Rockies organization. They moved him up to the #1 prospect in the Rockies organization in the winter before 2017 spring training. He remained at #1 in 2018. And for the third year in a row, Brendan was at #1 in 2019. And for a record fourth year in a row, Rodgers was the #1 Rockies prospect in the spring of 2020.
Brendan broke his own record before 2021 spring camps opened—the Rockies #1 prospect for five straight years!
Just a week into 2016 spring training, Brendan cut his hair. After sporting long, flowing hair since before his signing with the Rockies in 2015, Rodgers decided to go with a different look shortly after his arrival in Arizona.
"It was super weird," Rodgers said of his closely cropped hair. "I had some bad tan lines back there because it hasn't been really cut since about sixth grade. It's always been longish with the flow out the back. I woke up the next morning and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, what did I just do?' It definitely feels better on my head, but I'll probably wind up growing it back out."
August 31, 2016: Rockies 2015 draftee Brendan Rodgers received high praise for his first full season in the South Atlantic League. Rodgers was selected as the Most Outstanding MLB Prospect and also named the league's top shortstop.
Rodgers represented the Rookies in the 2017 and 2018 All-Star Futures games.
2018 season: Brendan was promoted to Triple-A Albuquerque towards the end of the season last year after hitting .275/.342/.493 in 93 games in Double-A Hartford. However, in Triple-A, Rodgers struggled in 19 games, as he hit .232/.264/.290.
Dec 11, 2019: If top Rockies prospect Brendan Rodgers is not ready for the start of Spring Training and not available to start the regular season because of the right shoulder labrum surgery that ended his 2019 campaign, it's not the end of the world. The warning on the back side is clear: Rushing back could have extreme consequences.
Rodgers, the team's No. 1 prospect and the overall No. 14 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, debuted May 17 after standout work at Triple-A Albuquerque and hit .224 with no home runs and seven RBIs in 25 Major League games over two stints. However, he attempted to play through shoulder pain that materialized after his debut. On June 24, Rodgers felt pain in the shoulder while making a throw during a game at Dodger Stadium, and after attempting rehab, he underwent surgery on July 16.
"We're hopeful that he's ready to go but it was a pretty legitimate shoulder surgery, so we're not going to act irresponsibly," Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich said at the Winter Meetings. "We're going to make sure that he's healthy. It's too early to tell right now. To answer that question, I think both of the scenarios are possibilities. We have to let some more rehab time pass here."
Mainly because of the injury, Rodgers was never able to show the electric bat that produced a .350 batting average, .413 on-base percentage, nine home runs and 21 RBIs in his 37 Triple-A games. He started slowly—.245 with two homers in his first 14 games—before catching fire and earning his promotion.
Having seen what a healthy Rodgers can do, the Rockies don't want to see the compromised version.
"He has listened to our medical folks in that, 'Look, if you screw this up, and are rash in your thinking and your actions on this, there's a chance that you don't recover well,'" Bridich said. "So setbacks due to poor decision making are unacceptable.
"He's been great. To this point, Doogie [head athletic trainer Keith Dugger] and the guys have said he's been exactly the type of patient and rehabber that they're looking for, which is great. You know, young guy, a lot of times, you get impatient." (T Harding - MLB.com - Dec 11, 2019)
Brendan hit the weight room during the coronavirus 2020 shutdown and emerged with bigger muscles—to match big dreams that weren’t daunted by his unsuccessful and painful Major League debut in 2019.
In 2019, Rodgers appeared in 25 games over two callups, but he managed just a .224 average and saw his year end with surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. But a determined 2019 offseason, and good use of shutdown time, has made Rodgers a likely presence on the Rockies roster, with opportunities dependent on his early production as a role player.
“The overall goal is not to prove, but to show, what I’m capable of, and that’s helping this team win,” said Rodgers.
Rodgers was already in fighting-back shape when he arrived at Spring Training 2020. He was a month ahead of projections and had made himself a candidate for the Opening Day roster. When camp in Scottsdale, AZ, was halted, he went home to Orlando, FL, where he joined Rockies catcher Drew Butera for workouts, with strength coach Jeff Higuera, and helped mentor Zac Veen, an outfielder.
“That extra time worked out in my favor,” said Rodgers, who weighed in at 210 pounds after the added muscle and the subtracted bad weight were assessed. “I really got to it in the gym on my shoulder—anything upper body, obviously, trying to strengthen my shoulder, get it as strong as it was pre-surgery. I just had fun lifting weights. At the end of the day, I came out of it a lot stronger than usual.”
Manager Bud Black has commented on Rodgers’ off-the-field maturity. There also isn’t the overswinging that can come with a player trying to make an impression.
“With Brendan, he’s swinging the bat great,” Black said. “He got into some games in Spring Training 1 as DH, while his arm was coming around. So now the three months of off-time, he was able to get his arm into position where he is able to play the field on a regular basis.”
Rodgers said the personal goals he came into 2020 with were rendered moot after the coronavirus reduced the season from 162 games to 60. All that’s left is an attitude he hopes will lead to impact when his opportunities come. “The motto I’ve kind of been living by is: Don’t get ready; I stay ready,” Rodgers said. “I learned that during the quarantine. I was working five or six days a week on baseball and weight training. I think it’s all going to pay off.” (Harding - mlb.com - 7/19/2020)
2020 season: -0.5 rWAR
The short season treated Rodgers much like the previous year where his opportunity to break out was stalled by a crowded infield and a significant injury. The Rockies’ number one prospect entering 2020, many hoped this would be the season that he would break out. The front office and Bud Black, however, chose to keep him bottled up at the alternate training site to begin the season until he was called up to the big leagues on August 19.
On the field performance
It’s almost unfair to grade Rodgers’ performance in 2020. With a mere 21 plate appearances, he had no real opportunity to get comfortable. His first appearance was as a mid-game substitution on August 19 against the Houston Astros where he belted a two-run single, notching his only RBIs on the season. He ended the season going 2-for-21 with one double.
Again, there’s nothing conclusive that can come from such a small sample, but it’s encouraging that Rodgers reached a maximum exit velocity of 112.8 miles per hour according to Statcast, which ranked him 56th among all hitters in 2020 for maximum exit velocity. On the downside, the small sample was really bad. Despite the raw tools, he’s been unable to show he can contribute at the major league level. Now, with a total of 102 plate appearances over the last two seasons, he has a grand total of three doubles, zero homers and an OPS of .462.
Bum shoulder
Rodgers’ departure from this season was hastened by a trip to the injured list on August 31 with a right shoulder capsular strain. Although not considered a serious injury, it did sideline Rodgers for the remainder of the 2020 season. It’s also the same shoulder that required surgery last offseason. This, along with his performance in the majors so far, brings a lot of concern to his future outlook.
Where to go from here
He finished the year as a big leaguer and will be expected to start next year in the MLB ranks
2021 Season: The 25-year-old Rodgers slashed .284/.328/.470 with 15 home runs, 51 RBI, and 49 runs scored. Those numbers aren’t bad, but they were greatly diminished due to Rodgers spending the first eight weeks of the season on the injured list, cutting his games down to only 102 games and 415 plate appearances.
Injuries have been a major cause for concern for Rodgers during his time in a Rockies uniform. He has found himself on the injured list during parts of all three of his seasons in the Majors. (Aaron Hurt - Oct. 10, 2021)
2022 Season: Breakout performer? Didn’t Rodgers win the NL Gold Glove Award and the MLB Fielding Bible Award at second base for 2022? Of course, but there is so much more on the table. After as slow a start as imaginable (.078 in April), Rodgers hit .286 with all 13 of his homers the rest of the way.
But after showing signs of thunder by hitting 15 homers and compiling a .470 slugging percentage in '21, his first year as a regular, he dropped to 13 homers and a .408 slugging percentage in 137 games in '22. A full and consistent year of slugging and run production, coupled with defense that improved by the month in '22, could make him a high-profile player at his position. (Thomas Harding - MLB.com - Dec 26, 2022)
TRANSACTIONS
June 2015: Rodgers was the Rockies #1 pick (#3 overall), out of Lake Mary High School in Florida. He was chosen behind only Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman, both also shortstops.
And Brendan signed for a below-slot bonus of $5
Jan 13, 2023: Rodgers avoided arbitration agreeing to a one-year deal with the Rockies worth $2.7 million.