DES MOINES -- I was in Iowa last weekend for an upcoming feature article on Nashville Sounds and formers Brewers pitcher Seth McClung. Before Saturday's game against the Iowa Cubs, I watched the team's 2004 first-round draft pick, Mark Rogers, take batting practice.
It was a thing of beauty.
In short, Rogers didn't look like a pitcher in the batting cage, banging line drives off the tall left field fence at Principal Park. Rogers, who's struggled through numerous injuries on his path the Brewers, certainly didn't look like a player in pain.
And the results are starting to show. Rogers, who hasn't appeared in a game with the Brewers since 2010, threw 5.1 innings in his last start, giving up just one run.
After his BP session, we chatted for a few minutes in the dugout.
OnMilwaukee.com: How are you feeling this spring?
Mark Rogers: I feel good, man. I feel really good. I finally feel like I'm over the hump.
OMC: What do you need to do from here?
MR: Now it's just about getting the repetitions, getting on the mound, throwing some innings and getting some innings under my belt. Just getting comfortable. Getting more and more comfortable in game situations.
OMC: That's a nice change, isn't it?
MR: I'm on my way. I finally feel healthy. Knock on wood. It's been a battle for me.
OMC: You didn't look like a pitcher in the batting cage.
MR: I love hitting, I really do.
OMC: So we'll see you in Milwaukee soon?
MR: I hope so, man. I hope so.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
