Polarizing former SF Giants reliever set to reunite with Logan Webb on Team USA

Team USA is back in action at the World Baseball Classic on Friday night and SF Giants ace Logan Webb is going to get the start. He may be relieved by a familiar face as former Giants bullpen arm Tyler Rogers has joined Team USA as a replacement.

It is cool that the two teammates get to reunite after spending so many years together with the Giants. Rogers was with the Giants from 2019 until the middle of last season when he was traded to the New York Mets.

Then, Rogers cashed in during the offseason by inking a three-year, $37 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. It appears the secret that Giants fans were privy to for so long is now out: Tyler Rogers is a really good pitcher.

Tyler Rogers has proven he is one of the best bullpen arms in baseball

While some Giants fans chose to die on the "Tyler Rogers is bad, actually" hill, which is somewhere out beyond McCovey Cove that many have wisely avoided, anyone who watched the guy pitch and looks at the number he has put up knows just how good the submariner is. The fact that he can be considered polarizing at all is laughable but some fans just didn't get it or weren't watching.

In 2024 with San Francisco he had a 2.42 ERA in a league-leading 77 appearances. He followed that up by posting a 1.98 ERA in a league-leading 81 appearances. He's reliable, he's effective, and he gets out. Who cares that he does it with an 82 mile-per-hour sinker while not getting a ton of strikeouts?

In a way it is poetic that both Webb and Rogers are together on Team USA, a roster just brimming with talent every way you look. Both guys have been dismissed as sinker-ballers who put up good numbers thanks to luck or the defense behind them. Now, it seems that national baseball types are finally giving both pitchers the respect they deserve.

A lot of Giants fans were hoping that San Francisco would bring Rogers back in free agency during the offseason. All along, it seemed like the Giants were going to be too cheap to do that. Instead, they opted to go the affordable route by signing a lot of guys coming off injuries who don't cost that much.

Maybe that will prove to be a wise strategy, but a lot of fans would feel better knowing Rogers will be handling the eighth inning this season because at this point it is anyone's best guess.

Nonetheless, it is cool that Webb and Rogers are together again. Maybe Webb can pitch five strong innings in quarterfinal play on Friday night against Team Canada and hand the ball off to Rogers in relief.