Rogers not ready to shut it down this season
ST. LOUIS -- Brewers right-hander Mark Rogers is holding onto a sliver of hope that he has not thrown his final 2012 pitch. Shut down by the ballclub on Sept. 1 in a preemptive move to protect Rogers' surgically-repaired right arm, the 26-year-old has continued playing catch and threw a full bullpen session on Friday. He will remain with the team for the remainder of the season, even if he doesn't pitch. "I don't know. This is the first time I've been through this," Rogers said. "One thing that will be good for me is I can get used to the length of the season. I can learn how to prepare throughout the length of the Major League season. "But a lot of people in this clubhouse don't feel like we're out of it, and I honestly can't tell you what that exactly means for me going forward. If throwing some bullpens keeps me in their minds, then that's good. We'll see." Friday's bullpen session, Rogers said, "Felt great." "It's nice to know I'm 100 percent," Rogers said. "Who knows what happens. Why not? I'm here, so why not make the most of it." The Brewers were not expected to make this sort of run after trading Zack Greinke and populating the starting rotation with rookies. But they entered Sunday winners of 15 of their last 19 games, leaving them five games out of the National League's second Wild Card slot. Besides Rogers, the Brewers have already inserted rookie Wily Peralta into the rotation, and manager Ron Roenicke reiterated Sunday that he wants to give Tyler Thornburg at least one start. The Thornburg plan is on hold while the Brewers assess where they stand in the Wild Card race, and he has been available the past few days out of the bullpen. Asked whether Rogers could pitch again, Roenicke said, "I shouldn't say anything because you put yourself in a hole when you say, 'We can't do that to him.' All of a sudden you change your mind, and then you look bad with what you say." Roenicke did say there are no current plans to return Rogers to the mound again this season.