Blue Jays reliever becomes the unsung hero in USA's semifinal WBC win over Team D.R.

It may have been an unexpected call up, but Tyler Rogers made the most of his tour of duty with Team USA. One of the newest relievers of the Toronto Blue Jays, Rogers was called upon to pitch in a big spot against Team Dominican Republic during the USA's semi-final showdown against the Caribbean nation.

With two on and one out in the bottom of the fifth, Rogers was asked to extinguish the threat, but he had to battle against one of the top sluggers in MLB, Juan Soto. Rogers started with an 81.8 mph sinker that was way outside. On the next pitch, he caught the corner on another sinker and that forced Soto to roll over the ball and ground into an inning ending double play.

Rogers' performance for USA gets the favorites to the finals

It was one of several rally killers enacted by Team USA over the Dominican's on what was a frustrating night at the plate for many in the lineup. The team went 2-for-9 with RISP and left eight men on base, but had a chance to win it right up until the final out, going down 2-1 and ending their run at the tournament.

Rogers wasn't on Team USA's roster initially, missing the entire preliminary round, and only getting the call ahead of their game against Team Canada earlier in the week. Rogers didn't pitch in that contest, but gave Blue Jays fans a preview of exactly the kinds of situations he'll be used in during the 2026 season. Blue Jays manager John Schneider will likely be impressed by Rogers' performance not just being able to induce the grounder to get the double play, but doing it against Soto is an accomplishment all on it's own.

While Rogers and Soto were teammates last season in New York with the Mets, the pair have faced each other several times before. Soto came up with the Washington Nationals, while Rogers came up with the Giants, allowing for several meetings while both played in the National League. In nine plate appearances, Rogers has had the upper hand, striking out Soto three times, while allowing him to reach base three times, on a pair of hits and one walk. Both hits were singles.

As long as Soto remains in New York this season, he'll only have one change to exact some revenge against Rogers, and that will be when the Mets visit Toronto from June 29 - July 1. In the meantime, Rogers will likely continue to get these kinds of assignments, facing the opponents big hitters in big situations when the Blue Jays need a groundball to get out of a tight situation. In 2025, his ground ball percentage was 61.6% which ranked in the 98th percentile and his hard hit percentage was 33.1% which ranked in the 95th percentile.

Rogers, who signed a three-year, $37 million contract with Toronto this past offseason, now also has a chance to begin the season with his new team while flaunting some championship gold with the USA heading to the finals for a third straight tournament.