Tigers catcher Jake Rogers' knuckleball strikeout of Joey Ortiz goes viral

Detroit — There’s not much science or strategy involved by the time Jake Rogers has to come into a game and pitch an inning to save the bullpen.

Rogers, a catcher by trade, is summoned exclusively for mop-up work, which was the case Tuesday when he pitched a scoreless ninth in the Tigers’ 12-4 loss to the Brewers.

But he got himself on all highlight packages and pitching guru videos on social media, earning his first career strikeout throwing a nasty knuckleball past Joey Ortiz.

“It’s a really crappy situation to be in,” said Rogers, who made the sixth pitching appearance of his career. “But you try to make the most of it and try to have a little fun with it.”

There was no PitchCom. Catcher Dillon Dingler didn’t put down fingers. Oh, no.

“Basically, Ding will look at me and I will look back and say, ‘Cutter,’” Rogers said. “Or I will say, ‘Heater.’ The hitter isn’t always looking right at the pitcher. It’s kind of natural for him to get in the box and look down at his feet. That’s when I tell Ding what’s coming.”

He said only one hitter ever caught him giving away the pitch.

“(Blue Jays') Ernie Clement,” Rogers said. “He looked right at me when I was telling Ding, knuckleball. I threw it anyway and he grounded out.”

He got two strikes on Ortiz and made a clawing motion at Dingler, signaling the knuckleball was coming. And he threw a beauty that Ortiz missed by a lot.

Rogers immediately told Dingler to save the ball.

“It was my sixth appearance, so I was searching for it,” he said of his first punch-out. “I’m out there throwing like 60 mph and guys aren’t really swinging and missing. Last year I started throwing my knuckleball hoping I can get a whiff in there. I got lucky with one last night.

“That’s going on my mantel for sure.”

chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com

@cmccosky

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers catcher Jake Rogers' knuckleball strikeout of Joey Ortiz goes viral