Phillies news and rumors 3/26: Dombrowski says ‘we’re a better club’ with Johan Rojas

Johan Rojas will be the Phillies’ Opening Day center fielder. (Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire)

On Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies finished their Grapefruit League schedule with a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. Meanwhile, off the field, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spoke with reporters, including Julia Kreuz of MLB.com.

Dombrowski touched on a few different subjects. One of those subjects was the club’s Opening Day center fielder, Johan Rojas, and how he feels about the young outfielder.

Rojas’ performance this spring has been a topic of conversation among many who follow the Phillies. His offensive results were not great. In 53 spring training at-bats, the 23-year-old had a .170 batting average and .478 OPS. Rojas’ results weren’t what the Phillies were worried about. They preached the importance of his process instead. Manager Rob Thomson and hitting coach Kevin Long have gone on the record about how they’re happy with what they’ve seen from Rojas so far.

As far as Dombrowski is concerned, he thinks “we’re a better club with [Rojas].”

Rojas is going to hit ninth for the Phillies when he’s in the starting lineup. And Dombrowski pointed out that, “…if the top seven guys in our lineup don’t hit, that’s going to make a difference.” Essentially, the Phillies understand if they aren’t scoring enough, it won’t be because of Rojas’ inefficiencies at the plate, but instead it will be because the rest of the lineup isn’t doing its job. And that’s fair given the star-studded, veteran-led lineup they’ll boast this year.

“He’s going to be the guy that gets infield hits… as long as he makes good enough contact [he’ll be OK],” Dombrowski said regarding Rojas. “It may not always look pretty, it may not always be the line drive. But he still adds to the club…”

Rojas may not be a bright spot in Philadelphia’s lineup this year. That’s okay. He’s still in the developmental stages at the plate. His progress won’t be linear. But as Dombrowski pointed out, he does add something to the Phillies. And that thing is defense.

As a prospect, Rojas was praised for his glove work in center field. It translated to the majors with ease last year. In 392 innings in center during the regular season, Rojas recorded 15 defensive runs saved and six outs above average, per FanGraphs. His advanced defensive abilities were on display early. He made a great play in his first game with the Phillies last July.

Rojas’ defense in center is why he makes the Phillies a better team, as Dombrowski said. His ability to run balls down ranging from the left-center field to the right-center field gap will certainly save runs. So, even though he may not add much to the Phillies’ run production, he’ll certainly aid in the area of run prevention.

Some have pointed out that starting the year in Triple-A could be a way to help Rojas’ offensive growth. Dombrowski doesn’t necessarily see it that way, though, saying, “You can go down to Triple-A and keep working on something, but that doesn’t mean, when you come to the big leagues, that you’re not going to have to work on the same stuff… there’s such a difference between Triple-A and the big leagues [in terms of pitching].”

The Phillies think having Rojas start 2024 with the big-league club is best for the player, “The main question I keep asking is, ‘What’s best for him?’ Dombrowski said, continuing, “And really, it came up in a very strong sentiment that this was the best thing for him.”

Another important note to add to having Rojas start the year in the majors, as pointed out by Phillies Nation’s Tim Kelly, is that he’ll be around the big-league hitting coaching staff before, during and after games.

At the end of the day, what do the Phillies want to see from Rojas? Confidence. And Dombrowski mentioned that Rojas has had that, “If he does well enough — and I don’t mean hit .300 — he feels good, feels confident, he keeps feeling good about himself, [he’ll be fine]. And the feeling is that he will do that. He is that way now, he works very hard.”

As far as Rojas is concerned, he’s ready. He understands patience will be needed, though. Before Monday’s game against the Rays, he stated, “I’m not where I want to be yet. But when I am, it’ll be good. And it’ll be fun to see me play. … But you have to trust the process, because nothing happens overnight.”

It’ll be Rojas’ first Opening Day at the major-league level. “I’m so excited. I can’t wait,” he said.

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