Identical twins, opposing teams: A Rogers reunion at Oracle Park

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SAN FRANCISCO -- The baseball stories of Taylor Rogers and Tyler Rogers are unshakably intertwined.

That’s hardly a surprise, as they’re identical twin brothers. That sort of bond is a step above those of most siblings.

With the Reds opening a series at Oracle Park in San Francisco against the Giants on Monday, it represented a reunion between the Rogers brothers, with Taylor now a key member of Cincinnati’s bullpen, opposite Tyler in the S.F. relief corps.

It’s already the second series between the Reds and Giants in 2025, an early-season scheduling quirk that means this reunion will be over just as quickly as it arrived.

“Yeah, it's kind of weird playing them Opening Day [in Cincinnati] and then turning around and coming right back here, and then for the rest of the year, I won't see him,” said Taylor before the series opener. “So I’m just trying to soak it up a little bit.”

The two were teammates in San Francisco from 2023-24, options from either side out of the bullpen for the Giants -- but providing notably different looks on the mound.

Tyler, of course, features one of the more unique “submarine”-style deliveries in the Majors, nearly scraping the mound with his right hand as he delivers frisbee-like pitches to the plate. Taylor, on the literal other hand, adopts a more traditional delivery.

“It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done,” said Taylor of his time as Tyler’s teammate. “I’ll tell anybody, I told [Alexis] Díaz and [Matt] McLain [both of whom have brothers in professional baseball], if you ever have a chance to play with your brother, do it. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to do it.”

“Just thankful for the two years we got together,” reflected Tyler to MLB.com’s Maria Guardado at Spring Training. “We did it right and enjoyed every second of it.”

Growing up, did their teammates in Little League have any issues telling which Rogers was which?

“In the beginning, they’d ask, like, ‘How do I tell you apart?’ and they never liked our answers,” said Taylor. “There’s not a particular thing, everybody’s looking for the easy shortcut. Just give it two weeks, and then you’re just gonna know. Everybody pretty much figured it out.”

Hearing Taylor tell it, he enjoys Tyler’s delivery as much as everyone else.

“He started throwing sidearm in college, and [his arm angle] just kept gradually falling, and now there's nowhere else to go but all the way down,” said Taylor. “He loves it. Getting to play catch with him every day, I learned it, I learned his delivery well. And we were each other’s pitching coaches, too, which was good.”

The Rogers brothers’ paths diverted as they grew older, with the two not linking back up on a competitive level until the Majors. Their time together in the Giants' bullpen afforded Taylor a chance to witness his brother chase his dream firsthand while also pursuing his own.

“It’s just cool to watch him,” said Taylor. “I’m his biggest fan, I always root for him, and I like to see him reach his goals and stuff. I’m kind of more excited about that than I am for myself.”