Dalton Rogers fulfills his dream of being drafted, talks about rooting for Dustin Pedroia and the Red Sox growing up
Every young collegiate baseball athlete has dreamt of the day they would be drafted by a Major League Baseball team. This past week, Major League Baseball held their 20-round draft and young men from across the country began to realize their dreams.
New Red Sox left-hander Dalton Rogers was one of those young men who was drafted.
The Boston Red Sox selected Rogers in the third round with the No. 99 selection overall. His draft day experience was a little different than the likes who got to show their flashy style on draft day, or who got to have their moment on MLB Network talking about their journey.
Instead Rogers was in Mississippi with his family and tried to replicate Day 2 of the MLB Draft just as any other day.
“So ah, you know the draft for me, being Central time and what not, it was one o’clock here. So I got breakfast at like a normal time, like nine o’clock whatever, I was like god I have so much time between, so I took a nap to kill the time between... I ended up taking a little bit of a nap, I woke up 30 minutes before the draft and then I sat down and watched the first pick happen,” said Rogers.
Once the draft began on Day 2, Rogers entire life would change.
“I got a phone call from my advisor, and asked me uh, a certain number with the Red Sox. And then it worked out I guess, eight picks later being with the Red Sox,” added Rogers. “It was pretty quick, I didn’t honestly anticipate it being that quick. I was like joking with my parents, it would be nice to get third round or top pick so we don’t have to be sitting here and we can celebrate.”
Rogers and his family did just that with some steaks on the beach. The 5-foot-11 and 172 pound southpaw got to live out his childhood dream with his family by his side. In addition, Rogers was drafted by the very team he rooted for as kid growing up.
“ Honestly, I was a Red Sox fan,” said Rogers when asked who he rooted for as a kid.
“Oddly enough being from the south I was a big Dustin Pedroia guy growing up. And then kind of closer to now I enjoyed Chris Sale, ya know coming from the White Sox, I was a big Chris Sale fan. I liked Andrew Benintendi when he was there. I’ve always enjoyed watching the Red Sox.”
Even though Rogers roots for Sale, Pedroia was one of his favorites as he pursued his baseball dream.
“Unfortunately being left handed I couldn’t play infield that much. I did grow up playing infield because I could play catch and throw it a little bit. But yeah, I just like the smaller guy on the field and he was a grinder, I mean it didn’t matter what his size wise, he didn’t show it on the field. Obviously I’m not the biggest guy so he was a nice person to look up to because of that,” said Rogers.
The left-handed throwing Rogers was the first pitcher taken by the Red Sox in the draft. Per Baseball America, Rogers “overwhelmingly pitches off his fastball —a 92-93 mph heater that touches 96 at peak and comes with solid carry and around 18 inches of induced vertical break.”
To go along with his fastball he mixes in a low-80s slider and a low-80s changeup that can generate plenty of swing-and-miss. All of these pitches are thrown from a three-quarters arm slot.
Rogers and the Red Sox have reportedly agreed to terms, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith. The recommended slot value attached to the 79th overall pick in the 2022 draft is $617,200.
Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisHenrique
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