22 | JULY 29 • 2021 

M

ike Rothenberg would love to 
add his name to a lengthy list 
that includes Hank Greenberg, 
Joe Ginsburg, Brad Ausmus, Gabe Kapler 
and Ian Kinsler.
The list is Jewish ballplayers who played 
for the Detroit Tigers.
Rothenberg took his first step toward 
joining the list July 13 when he was selected 
by the Tigers in the 12th round of the annu-
al Major League Baseball Draft.
The 345th pick overall, he was taken on 
the third and final day of the draft.
Rothenberg is a 6-foot-3, 215-pound 
switch-hitting catcher from Boca Raton, 
Fla., who just finished his senior season at 
Duke University.
“I’m proud to be a Jewish ballplayer, and 
I’ve always appreciated the support I’ve got-
ten from the Jewish community,
” he said.
Rothenberg headed to the Tigers’ com-
plex in Lakeland, Fla., after he was drafted. 
He’ll probably be joining the Lakeland 
Flying Tigers, the organization’s Low-Class 
A affiliate.
Rothenberg said he was in communica-
tion with the Tigers prior to the draft and 
attended the organization’s pre-draft camp 

July 9 in Lakeland, so he wasn’t surprised 
the Tigers selected him.
There haven’t been many switch-hitting 
catchers in the major leagues. A recent sur-
vey listed only 82 among more than 1,650 
major-league catchers in history.
Rothenberg, 22, said he began switch-hit-
ting when he was 9 or 10 years old on a rec-
ommendation from his hitting coach.
“I’m a natural right-handed batter. I 
struggled batting left-handed when I was 
10, 11 and 12, but I stuck with being a 
switch hitter and it’s worked for me,
” he 
said.
The 2020 college baseball season was 
canceled by the NCAA because of the 
COVID-19 pandemic. Rothenberg used the 
unexpected time off to modify and hone his 
catching skills.
“I switched from the traditional catching 
style of two feet down to the new age style 
of catching on one knee,
” he said. “The new 
age style is beneficial for a tall catcher like 
me. It makes it easier to block low pitches.
”
Rothenberg has been a catcher through-
out his baseball life. He likes the cerebral 
part of the position.
“I enjoy the chess match with each 

opposing batter, calling pitches and the 
sequence of pitches,
” he said.
The Tigers drafted Rothenberg after tak-
ing another catcher — Josh Crouch from 
the University of Central Florida — in the 
previous round. It wasn’t a coincidence.
“You always need catching and we’ve had 
our eye on those guys (Rothenberg and 
Crouch) for a while,
” Scott Pleis, the Tigers’ 
top amateur scout, told the Detroit News.
“Rothenberg has good size and arm 
strength. He was a little up and down offen-
sively this past season (at Duke), but we saw 

Jewish catcher from 
Duke selected in the 
12th round of the Major 
League Baseball Draft

Tigers 
Tigers 
Like Mike
Like Mike

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Mike Rothenberg hit 
24 home runs during 
his Duke career.

SPORTS

Mike
Rothenberg

DUKE UNIVERSITY

