Tyler and Taylor Rogers play catch with each other every December 17. It’s their birthday, and the ideal time to start getting ready for another season in the majors.
The brothers, who have combined for more than 900 games and were teammates with the San Francisco Giants in 2023 and 2024, will remember the date July 30, too – because both of them were traded on Wednesday.
The Cincinnati Reds sent Taylor, a lefty, to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a deal for Ke’Bryan Hayes. Minutes later, the Giants sent Tyler, a righty, to the Mets in exchange for Jose Butto and two prospects.
It’s not the first time that brothers have been traded on the same day. On Nov. 30, 1970, on the first day of the winter meetings, catcher Danny Breeden and his brother, a first baseman named Hal, were both traded, in separate deals, to the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs sent future Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm (still pitching at age 48) to the Atlanta Braves for Hal Breeden, and also shipped outfielder Willie Smith to the Cincinnati Reds for Danny, a catcher. Neither Breeden made much impact on the Cubs. Danny hit .154. Hal hit .139.
The Rogers deals become the latest in a long history of brotherly oddities in baseball. Here’s a small sampling of some other fun facts from more than 400 brother combinations to play in MLB.
Consider the Shannon twins, Joe and Red. On Oct. 7, 1915, 18-year-old Joe played his fifth game in the majors, logging a few innings at second base for the Boston Braves. His double-play partner? Brother Red, who was making his MLB debut. Red Shannon would play parts of seven seasons through 1926, but Joe never made it back to the majors.
The knuckleballing Niekros were a slightly more impactful MLB duo. Joe played for 22 seasons and came to bat 1,165 times in the majors. He hit one home run — and, wouldn’t you know, it came off his Hall of Fame brother, Phil, on May 29, 1976, for the Astros in Atlanta.
When Pat Underwood arrived in the majors with the Detroit Tigers on May 31, 1979, who do you imagine opposed him on the mound in Toronto? That would be his older brother, Tom. The two dueled for seven scoreless innings before Jerry Morales homered off Tom in the eighth. Tom went the distance, but Pat’s 8 1/3-inning effort earned a 1-0 win.
Greg and Mike Maddux both reached the big leagues in 1986 and finished their season by starting against each other on September 29 in Philadelphia. In a preview of things to come, Greg pitched into the eighth inning to win it for the Cubs, the second of his 355 career victories. Mike lasted only three innings and went on to spend the bulk of his career in the bullpen.
Then we have the Maton brothers. In the final game of the 2022 regular season, Phil Maton, then pitching for Houston, faced his brother Nick, then an infielder for the Phillies, for the first time. Nick hit a single, and after the game, Phil punched his locker in frustration, breaking a finger on his pitching hand.
When the Phillies and Astros ended up meeting in the World Series, only Nick played, because Phil’s hand was in a cast. But the Astros prevailed in six games, so Phil got the championship ring.
(Photo of Tyler and Taylor Rogers, left to right, with the Giants in 2023: Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
