Stay Or Go: Will Johan Rojas Roam CF For Phillies In 2025?
The Phillies season is over. After finishing with the 2nd best record in baseball, they were the first of the teams who earned the bye week to be sent home. The Mets ran right over them, the way the Phillies had run over the Braves the past two years. Guys like Johan Rojas, Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh, JT Realmuto, Trea Turner, and Kyle Schwarber, were mostly no-shows. The bullpen imploded. And now it is over.
It leaves the question of what they do next. Do they blow it up? Will this roster be shaken up after yet another playoff choke?
We are going to run through some of the names on this roster whose future here looks murky. Leaving out the names that will obviously stay like Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, and others who are locked up long-term.
Here Are Names We Already Looked At:
Related: Stay or Go- Is Alec Bohm Still the Phillies Future at 3rd?
Related: Stay Or Go: Will Brandon Marsh Be Back In 2025?
Now, we will look at the Phillies Center Fielder. Johan Rojas.
One Of The Best Gloves In The League
Let’s start with the good with Rojas. His glove is as good as it gets. He wasn’t quite so great out of the gate. But after a brief trip to the minors, he came back looking like the Gold Glover we thought he could be. His Range, Arm Value, and Arm Strength, all rank among the top 10% of the league according to Baseball Savant.
There is real value to having him out there. He turns balls that would be hits for most outfielders into outs.
We did not see it play out much this postseason. The Phillies kind of got run over and it wasn’t close enough for his fielding to make a difference. But in 2023, it made a difference. Who knows what happens if he doesn’t make this catch against the Braves in game 4? At the very least it is a tie game. It may have given the Braves the lead.
So when talking about him, you have to take the glove into account. The problem is everything else about him.
Johan Rojas Can’t Hit
As good as he is in the field, he is just as bad at the plate. His actual stats don’t do justice to just how much he struggles there. Yes, he hits .243 which is not completely awful, but he has a slugging % of just .322.
His Slug, Average Exit Velocity, Barrel Rate, Hard Hit Rate, and Walk Rate are all at the very bottom of the league according to Baseball Savant. Literally in the worse 5%, or even worse 1% of those categories. His Chase Rate is in the bottom 10%. The only part of hitting he doesn’t rank that low in is his Whiff Rate and K rate, which are league average.
It was the same story last year, even though he hit .302, and it has been the same story in the playoffs both years. He simply is not a good hitter. There is not even a thing you can look at and say he is good at that part of hitting.
He has speed. If he put the ball in play, he could be a Dee Gordon-type hitter who uses his speed to get on base. and then steals bases. But he isn’t really even doing that, at least not enough to make him a viable option at the plate. His OBP is under .300.
It is hard to see him as an everyday player putting up those numbers. His glove is good enough to make up for a mediocre bat. It is not good enough to make up for a bat that has no viability at the plate.
Dave Dombrowski Makes No Commitments To Johan Rojas
Dombrowski gave very little away in his end-of-season press conference. He talked about nearly every player asked about as if they would be on the team. That does not mean they will be, but any plans he does have he kept close to his vest.
But there was 1 player he did not talk about that way, Johan Rojas. Here is What Dave Dombrowski said about Rojas.
“We like Rojas, but we need offensive improvement there from him. We have a plan. He is going to live in Clearwater… He’s reduced his chase rate. He’s still an outstanding defensive center fielder. He can run. But I can’t say he’s for sure going to be our center fielder.”
They said something similar last season. They had plans to fix his bat, and if anything, it got a bit worse. They say he reduced his chase rate, but his chase rate was in the bottom 10% of the league.
Will He Be Here?
I don’t think they are going to cut him, and I don’t know how much trade value he has. But if you were to ask me will he be their everyday Center Fielder next year? I would doubt it. He could be down in AAA, or he could be up here as a 4th Outfielder.
Outfield is the place they are most likely to add to. That could come in the form of a Left Fielder. It could be that Rojas and Marsh platoon in Center. They were supposed to do that when the Phillies acquired Hayes, but that plan didn’t work out. But if they add someone like Jurickson Profar or Anthony Santander, those guys are playing every day.
Rojas will be in the organization. But he will not play 120 games like he did last year, at least not in the MLB. His best hope would be a Center field platoon. But he might be back in the minors. As great as his glove is, they can’t keep running him out at the plate. He has no chance there and has shown no sign of getting better.
Verdict: Sent Down To AAA
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