Categories: Phillies Nuggets with Tim Kelly

Phillies see ‘star’ potential in Johan Rojas, eye internal improvements in lineup

Johan Rojas is a rookie for the Phillies. (Don Otto/Phillies Nation)

Whether it was Teoscar Hernandez, Tommy Pham, Harrison Bader or Adam Duvall, there was an expectation that the Philadelphia Phillies would add a right-handed hitting outfielder prior to Tuesday’s trade deadline.

But 6 p.m. came and went, and the Phillies outfield still looks the same.

Granted, the Phillies made trades for RHP Michael Lorenzen and utility infielder Rodolfo Castro — DFA’ing veteran Josh Harrison in the process — so it wasn’t like there weren’t any transactions. But what felt like the team’s biggest need entering the day went unaddressed by president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

“Well, there were not a lot of right-handed hitting outfielders that moved,” Dombrowski said.

“But also for us, it was an interest, but we also asked ourselves a couple things in that regard. First and foremost, the pitching was the priority for us. We really wanted to get pitching depth, because we were concerned about the depth of our organization in that regard if something would happen over the next couple months.

“From the right-handed hitting perspective, we talked long and hard. We really like the job that [Johan] Rojas has done for us. He’s a young kid coming up that’s given us energy. We like him. And so, it’s a situation where his defense is, of course, outstanding. His speed is outstanding too. He’s felt comfortable at the big league level, and we often asked ourselves ‘Do we feel like he’s overwhelmed?’ The answer kept coming back [‘No.’] So, not that we didn’t inquire, but there were very few guys who were avaliable and some of the prices we just didn’t want to pay based upon how we have felt about him.”

The Phillies do also expect to get Cristian Pache — another gifted defensive outfielder who has hit .327 in 49 at-bats this season — back from the procedure he had to remove a screw from his right elbow on July 17.

Exactly when that is remains to be seen, but all of a sudden, this is an outfield with some really gifted defenders. Castellanos will never grade out well defensively in right field, but he’s been drastically better than he was a year ago. Schwarber — who has -15 defensive runs saved and -18 outs above average in left field this season — will likely see considerably less time in left field now that Bryce Harper isn’t entrenched at DH. Pache and Rojas might both be among the five best defensive outfielders in the sport. While Marsh has had some glaring miscues in center field, he still has five outs above average and has graded out very well in the past when playing left field. Even Jake Cave has four defensive runs saved in 186 innings for the Phillies this season.

That’s not to say that the Phillies wouldn’t have been a better team in 2023 if they added someone like Hernandez, because they would have been. But he’s a rental that the Seattle Mariners — still on the peripheries of the AL Wild Card race — held onto. The Boston Red Sox didn’t trade Duvall. The New York Yankees didn’t trade Bader. Pham did move from the Mets to the Arizona Diamondbacks, but it wasn’t generally a great year to be looking for a right-handed hitting outfielder.

And one of the names teams asked about in trade talks with the Phillies, according to Dombrowski, was the 22-year-old Rojas.

“Well yes, people asked about Rojas — they ask about your good players all the time,” Dombrowski said. “It’s not somebody that we ever came close to trading, and really don’t wanna trade. We think he has a chance to be a star, really. He’s not intimidated coming to the big league level, as you can see. I’m not sure his time to be a star is yet, but he can contribute. And as we know, speed makes a great deal of difference in today’s game.

“…But yes, Rojas was asked about a great deal, and not somebody we ever even contemplated or came closer to trading.”

On paper, the Phillies have what should be one of the deepest lineups in the sport. But Trea Turner — in the first season of an 11-year/$300 million deal — has a .673 OPS. Schwarber is hitting just .182, down 36 points from a season ago. Harper has only five home runs in his first 273 at-bats back from Tommy John surgery. Castellanos is hitting .123 since playing in the All-Star Game.

Even had the 57-49 Phillies made a trade for a right-handed hitting outfielder, they knew that their biggest offensive improvements down the stretch needed to come from underperforming veterans.

“I think a lot,” Dombrowski conceded. “I think our guys know that that too. We have some good offensive names and we like their ability. Now we have to go out and do it. We have confidence in them that they’re going to do it.

“And so to me, when you looked at who was available there at the price we would have to pay — and again, very few guys moved — we really kept coming down to that offensive improvement we feel we’ll get from within will be good for us. That will help us more than what we would have given to get some outside help.”