Brendan Rodgers (Photo: Eric Steiner Photography)
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PLAYER PROFILE:
Name: Brendan Rodgers
Position: Infielder
School: Lake Mary (Fla.)
Ht.: 6-1. Wt.: 195.
Bats/throws: Right/right
College/MLB draft: Signed with Florida State/Drafted No. 3 overall by the Colorado Rockies.
Key stats: Considered an elite fielder at shortstop, he hit .368 with 23 RBI and eight homers.
Favorite teachers: Probably Dante Bichette and Tom Gordon. I’ve been around those two for four years.
My reality TV competition: Survivor. I used to watch that when I was younger. I think that would be the most fun. You really have to work to win it.
Three objects for a deserted island: Water, some sort of first-aid kid, in case I got stung by something and a change of clothes.
Mistake I’ve learned from: My freshman year, I kind of put school behind me. I had a 3.1, but I’m a better student than that. My sophomore year, I came out of nowhere and had good grades. For the past three years, school has been first.
Season highlight: In our first preseason game (against Orangewood Christian), I probably hit one of the farthest homers I’ve had in my career. It was such a good feeling coming off the bat.
Put the bat and glove in my hand: A neighbor, Ralph Nenna. He and his son lived five blocks down and his dad asked if I wanted to come out for tryouts for baseball.
The last time I forgot how many outs there were: As the shortstop, I’m the captain of the field players, so I’m usually on top of it, most of the time, whether we’re up 10-0 or down 10-0. I may have forgotten once this season when I on first. Somebody hit a pop up and I thought there were two ours and I had to run hard back to first.
My inspiration: Obviously, my parents inspire me to play the game I love every day. They don’t let me sit on my butt and play video games. Derek Jeter is my role model because of how he played the game.
Clutch moment: In summer baseball in Jupiter, we had two games in a row where we went into extra innings in a tournament. In the quarterfinal, I came up with the bases loaded in the eighth or ninth, I think it was the third game of the day and I hit a deep pop fly to score the winning run from third. The next morning, in the semifinals, I hit the game-winning double.
Hidden talent: I’m actually pretty talented in ping-pong. That’s my pregame ritual, just to warm up before a game. I still have some soccer skills and I also played football and basketball growing up.
If I had a time machine: I would choose two or three years in advance to see where I am in my baseball career.