Tigers to activate Jake Rogers

The Tigers will reinstate catcher Jake Rogers from the injured list today, manager A.J.

Hinch announced to the teams beat ( link via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com ).

The likely corresponding move will be to move on from veteran Tomas Nido , who has hit well in a small sample of 37 plate appearances but cant be optioned to the minors without first clearing waivers.

Rogers, 30, went 5-for-15 with three doubles during a brief Triple-A rehab assignment.

He landed on the injured list about a week into the season thanks to an oblique strain that wound up sidelining him nearly six weeks.

He was 4-for-18 with a double and three walks in 22 plate appearances when healthy and carries a .198/.262/.351 batting line dating back to last season.

Though hes coming off a down season with the bat, Rogers is a premium defensive catcher who popped 21 home runs as recently as 2023.

From 2022-23, Rogers slashed .225/.291/.457 (103 wRC+) with 27 big flies in only 492 plate appearances.

The Tigers will certainly hope that he can return to that form at the plate, but Rogers glovework is strong enough that hell hold down a key role on the team even if his bat doesnt return to form.

In Rogers absence, former second-round pick Dillon Dingler has seen the lions share of playing time and made a case for a larger role than that of the standard backup.

Hes hitting .292/.319/.462 with four homers, eight doubles and a triple in 135 turns at the plate.

Dinglers 27.4% strikeout rate is a few ticks too high though lower than Rogers typical levels and hes not going to sustain a .382 average on balls in play, but he increasingly looks like a competent offensive player whose glovework is similarly well-regarded to that of Rogers.

Time will tell how the Tigers will divide up the reps behind the dish, but its possible that Dingler has played himself into more of an even timeshare already.

As for the 31-year-old Nido, hes appeared in 10 games since Rogers injury and gone 12-for-37.

Hes hitting .343, but all of his hits have been singles and hes sitting on a .480 average on balls in play he cant possibly sustain over a larger sample.

Nido, like his two fellow Detroit backstops, is a plus defender but entered the season with a career .210/.245/.309 batting line.

Hes out of minor league options and has more than five years of service anyhow (meaning even if he did have minor league option remaining, hed have to consent to being sent down).

If the Tigers end up designating Nido for assignment, theyll have five days to try to trade him before hed have to be placed on outright waivers (which is a 48-hour process).

The Tigers would presumably prefer to keep Nido in the organization as depth in Triple-A Toledo, but even if Nido were to go unclaimed on waivers, he could reject an outright assignment to Triple-A in favor of free agency.

This article first appeared on MLB Trade Rumors and was syndicated with permission..

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