Question: Rich, I don’t know why Trevor Rogers hasn’t been extended. From what I’ve read, he wants to return to Baltimore. Do you know anything that the fans don’t know? Do you think he’ll be back? From: Steve Inge
Answer: Steve, I don’t know why Trevor Rogers hasn’t been extended, either. As I’ve written many times, I thought that it was in the club’s best interests to do so considering his eagerness to return.
Now that he’s a little over a month away from free agency, I would be surprised if the Orioles signed him before then. There aren’t a lot of quality arms on the free-agent market, and I think he’d do well for himself.
The guess here is that he’ll get a qualifying offer from the Orioles, turn it down, test the market and sign elsewhere, which would leave a good-sized hole in the rotation.
Under Mike Elias, the Orioles have extended four players in the last 13 months: Samuel Basallo, Shane Baz, Kyle Bradish and Yennier Cano, but none of them were about to become free agents.
I’m sure that they’ll explore a return by Rogers as Elias said on Monday, but it may be too late for that.
Question: How often did the O’s challenge called strikes compared to other MLB teams and were more challenges called by batters or pitchers and catchers? From: TheObxr
Answer: Stu, Oriole hitters challenged 168 times,11th most in baseball, and were successful 47 percent of the time, 18th best in baseball. Pitchers and catchers challenged 158 times, 25th most in baseball, and their success rate was 53 percent, 26th most in baseball.
Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: [email protected]. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.