BALTIMORE -- The 2025 version of Trevor Rogers appears to be back in Baltimore.
After a difficult start to 2026, Rogers has been putting everything back together in mid-June. The 28-year-old left-hander continued his recent run of success on Friday night, when he tossed 6 1/3 stellar innings during the Orioles’ 3-1 win over the Nationals at Camden Yards.
Rogers allowed only one run on five hits -- including Keibert Ruiz’s two-out RBI single in the fifth that accounted for Washington’s lone run -- while recording seven strikeouts without issuing a walk. Ruiz’s knock ended a 15-inning scoreless streak for the southpaw.
Since the beginning of June, Rogers owns a 2.05 ERA in 30 2/3 innings over five outings, with each of the past three being quality starts. He allowed two runs in six innings during a tough-luck loss to the Padres on June 14, then tossed seven scoreless innings in a win over the Dodgers last Saturday in Los Angeles.
“I had full confidence in Rog, and when you have that type of talent, that pedigree and his stuff and his makeup, you bet on the person. The way he goes out with his work, there was no doubt in my mind that he was going to turn it around,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “We’re seeing the real Rog now.”
The key to Rogers’ resurgence? The heat.
Rogers has dialed up his fastball usage of late, and he continued that trend against the Nats. Last Saturday, he threw 51 four-seamers among his 96 pitches (53.1%, second most this season). On Friday, he delivered 46 four-seamers in 87 pitches (52.9%, third most).
Not only is Rogers throwing a lot of fastballs, but he’s now getting them past hitters at a higher rate. Of the 16 whiffs he generated vs. Washington, 13 came via his four-seam fastball. That tied his second-most four-seam whiffs of his seven-year MLB career -- he had 14 on June 30, 2025, at Texas and also had 13 on April 5, 2021, vs. the Cardinals while pitching for the Marlins.
“I think it complemented everything really well,” Rogers said. “The fastball has been playing really well right now, and I'm just going to use that to my advantage and attack hitters with it.”
After his previous start, Rogers called it his “best fastball performance of the year so far.” Was this outing even better from that standpoint?
“I'd say it was right on par,” Rogers said. “The consistency is probably the most important thing that I care about and the way it's playing in the zone, the swings I'm getting on it, and I'm just really pleased with where it's at. The biggest thing is I'm maintaining velocity throughout the whole start.”
Although Rogers doesn’t have a blazing fastball, the combination of his arm slot, his extension and the spin rate on the pitch can make it difficult on hitters, even if it’s sitting around 94 mph most of the time. But he’s capable of getting some higher velocity on it, especially when the weather heats up.
In the fourth, Rogers threw a 96.2 mph first-pitch fastball past Dylan Crews, who swung and missed. It was the fastest-thrown pitch to result in a whiff during Rogers’ 37-start O’s career. It was his third-fastest offering of the season and tied for his fourth-fastest pitch thrown in a Baltimore uniform.
“I thought there was extra life on his fastball,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said. “A little bit more than we expected.”
Rogers, who was the 2025 Most Valuable Oriole Award winner and Baltimore’s ‘26 Opening Day starter, now has a 4.99 ERA through 15 starts. It’s the first time his ERA has been below 5.00 since it sat at 4.75 following his April 25 outing against the Red Sox.
The Orioles’ offense came via Blaze Alexander’s bases-loaded two-run single with two outs in the fourth and Coby Mayo’s one-out RBI double in the seventh. And on a night when Rogers was pitching as well as he was, that was more than enough support.
“Even when [Rogers] was going through it a little bit, I always had confidence in him, because I watched it last year, every five days, him dominate,” Mayo said. “I know he works his butt off. He’s a grinder, he game plans well. He does everything well. Sometimes, you just don’t get the results, and I think that was kind of what was going on with him a little bit.
“He doesn’t stop working, so credit to Trev. He’s been great.”