Friday Favorites: Chad Rogers

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Chad Rogers joined Ben Tompkins in this week’s edition of Friday Favorites. (MiLB.com)[/caption]

What’s going on, Louisville? It’s time for another edition of Friday Favorites. I’m Ben Tompkins (@bennytomp18) and today I was joined by Chad Rogers (@sharkrogers), a pitcher and younger guy on the come-up. He’s been grinding for the Bats this season and for the Reds organization for the last three, so when I heard he had a pretty good sense of humor, I figured he’d be a good fit for the Friday Favorites schedule.

This is only the second Friday Favorites of the year and there’s many more to come, but if you missed the last one I did with Josh Fellhauer, you might not be familiar with the layout. Basically I grab a player every Friday and ask a handful of questions that are aimed at putting a smile on your face. We cover everything from favorite stories to music to late night meals and the goal is to give you insights on the players that let you get to know these guys a little better.

You can either listen to the Friday Favs session here on Soundcloud or read the transcription below; the choice is yours.

Ben Tompkins: Normally I like to open up with story time, so over the past few years traveling on the road with the team I’m sure there’s been a few nights to remember, what’s your favorite road story?

Chad Rogers: We had one that was pretty good with our pitcher Josh Smith, he had been pitching really well and he was kinda up on his high horse and so we took him out for his birthday one night. Our bartender that night, she was a pretty good looking chick and when he got up to use the restroom, a few teammates and I paid for a shot and wrote my number down because he didn’t have my number, and we had the bartender give it to him when he got back. So she gives him my number with the shot and she’s like, “hey cutie, here’s my number” you know, and he just got super big headed and was full swagger, saying to us “you guys see that, I got her, I got her.” We ended up messing with him and I was actually sitting next to him at the bar texting him back and forth and it was pretty hard not to laugh, we ended up telling him the next day.

BT: How many people were around when you broke the news to him and told him, hey this was me, bro?

CR: Well everybody on the team knew, I mean we let everybody know — Our pitching coach (Ted Power) was like, “hey, I heard you met some chick last night,” and he was like “yeah I got game” and we let him wear it for a while but we let him have it.

BT: I was unfamiliar with your story and that you had suffered a shark attack and been bitted, so they told me to make sure I asked about that. But instead of asking you to tell that again, what’s maybe not your favorite, but the dumbest question anyone has ever asked you about it? Because I have to imagine there’s been that guy that asked, “hey did it hurt?”

CR: *laughs* Yeah I mean, there’s always the guy who asks how did it feel? You know, obviously not good when a shark is biting your foot, another one that got asked a lot was “what were you thinking when the shark bit you?” Uhhh, get into shore? Get out of the water? You know, I mean normal things that would go through anyone’s mind if they get bitten by a shark, you know I don’t think anyone is thinking they’re Aquaman and want to swim after them and drag them to shore. I just wanted to get into shore and get to the hospital.

BT: Do you lift, do you hit the gym?

CR: I do.

BT: You’re in the car on the way to the gym, your pre-workout just kicked in — What’s playing on your radio?

CR: Trophies by Drake, I’ll jam that, that gets me up and then it’s whatever from there, I’ll just put my iPod on shuffle.

BT: You’re from Galveston, Texas, who are your favorite professional teams outside of baseball?

CR: Houston Texans, Houston Rockets, Astros and the Atlanta Braves.

BT: So you’re H-Town everything?

CR: Always man, gotta stay faithful.

BT: Have you ever had a guy you’ve faced enough in the minor leagues or in spring training that’s been a favorite of yours to strikeout? Anybody that puts a smile on your face when you hear strike three called?

CR: Nobody I can think of, but I’d say the biggest strikeout of my career so far was Alex Rodriguez last year and that was — that was probably a highlight of my career. It’s just fun, you’re sitting there and you’re six years old watching this guy grow up and play ball and then all the sudden I’m on the mound facing him in a game so that was pretty cool.

BT: What’s your favorite thing to tell yourself on the mound?

CR: Just relax, have a good time you know, once the ball leaves your hand you can’t control anything so don’t try to do too much, don’t press. Just relax, have fun, and go after the hitters.

BT: And lastly, this is my favorite way to end these, what’s your favorite piece of advice or mantra that someone has passed along to you that’s stuck with you?

CR: I would say to just relax, treat it as a game and be as competitive as you can be, have fun and don’t worry about the small stuff.

BT: We’ll let that stuff ride, right?

CR: Oh yeah, let it ride.

That’ll do it for another edition of Friday Favorites, Chad continued success in all that you do and Louisville, I’ll be back with you next week. I have a tentative schedule of players that I plan to do these with but I am open to suggestions if you like these and there’s someone that you want to hear from. Keep up or catch up with me on Twitter @bennytomp18, keep coming to see us at Louisville Slugger Field, and it’s grind day from Friday to next Friday so keep on hustling.

Ben Tompkins is a media relations intern for the Louisville Bats. You can follow him on Twitter @bennytomp18 and on Instagram @bennythekid01.