Rogers named NM Gatorade Player of Year; Tabbed as Top 10 draft prospect

Four days after being named the Class 6A State Player of the Year, Carlsbad’s dominant lefthander Trevor Rogers picked up an even more prestigious honor: New Mexico Gatorade Player of the Year.

Based on his numbers, Rogers undoubtedly deserved the award.

He amassed an impressive 11-0 record and 0.33 earned run average in 63.1 inning pitched, throwing four no-hitters and one perfect game (April 21 against Gadsden).

Rogers struck out 134 batters, an average of more than two strikeouts per inning and the fifth highest single season total in New Mexico history based on the records at the NMAA’s web site.

Incredibly, 71 percent of the outs recorded by Rogers this season came by strikeout (134 of 190). His microscopic ERA is the second lowest in New Mexico history, bettered only by the perfect 0.00 mark of Sandia Prep’s Joe Martinez in 2015.

Rogers also batted .394 at the plate with three homers, 26 RBI and 7 doubles, making him one of the most dangerous dual threat players in recent memory.

According to USA Today, all 50 Gatorade Players of the Year “were selected based on athletic production and impact in the 2016-17 season. Each winner also demonstrated high academic achievement and exemplary personal character, including volunteerism, sportsmanship and community leadership.”

Winning Gatorade Player of the Year wasn’t the only good news for Rogers on Tuesday. D1Baseball.com, a well-respected site for high school and college baseball coverage, tabbed Rogers as the No. 10 overall prospect for the 2017 MLB Draft, which begins June 12 and will be televised by the MLB Network and streamed on-line by MLB.com.

Most MLB Draft experts predict Rogers will be drafted within the first 15 picks. The tall southpaw has signed with Texas Tech of the Big 12, but history shows that most players taken in the first-round sign pro contracts because of the mid-to-high seven figure signing bonuses involved in being drafted that high.