Johan Rojas
Despite getting a vote of confidence from manager Rob Thomson, as Marcus Hayes of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported, it feels like promising outfielder Johan Rojas is one of the bubble players early in the season. This is the same Rojas who appeared midway through the 2023 season to help stabilize the Phillies’ outfield defense, along with hitting close to .300 in over 164 plate appearances, showing that he could get things done both on the field and at the plate.
However, the offense fell off dramatically during the postseason, as he was held to just a dismal .093 average while striking out 15 times in just 43 at-bats over 13 playoff games. At that moment, the Phillies realized that his defense may be MLB-ready, but his bat still needed some work.
Unfortunately, Rojas’ struggles at the plate continued through spring training this year and now into the regular season as well. He didn’t register a hit until his sixth game and finally hit a ball beyond the infield on Friday when he flied out. He's now 1-for-22 on the season.
In addition, his bat has cast so much doubt that the Phillies even had to save Alec Bohm to pinch-hit for Rojas late in the game on Wednesday. In doing so, it prevented the use of Bohm in a more critical bases-loaded situation earlier in the sixth inning to eliminate the lefty-on-lefty matchup between Brandon Marsh and Reds reliever Justin Wilson (Marsh ended up striking out to end the rally).
If Rojas continues to struggle this extensively at the plate, it may serve him and the Phillies better to have him spend some time in Triple-A to develop his bat further. It would be most beneficial to both parties in the long run and will ensure that Rojas can have a sustainable career in the majors in the future.