It’s no secret that since the start of last postseason, Johan Rojas has struggled mightily at the plate. However, in a Philadelphia Phillies clubhouse loaded with former All-Stars, the work ethic of the 23-year-old continues to impress his teammates.
One of the teammates that appreciates how hard Rojas has worked to improve offensively is Trea Turner. And after Rojas’ finest offensive performance of the season in Wednesday’s win over the Colorado Rockies, Turner praised Rojas and revealed that the two had worked together fairly extensively in the batting cage earlier in the day.
“I think he’s pretty relaxed. He just wants to play well just like anybody. I don’t think he’s necessarily pressing, he’s just trying to find his way,” Turner said of Rojas.
“I talked to him in the cage for a while today and we worked on a couple things, and felt like they showed up pretty immediately,” Turner continued. “Driving that breaking ball to left-center was really nice and then a tough AB in the last at-bat, and to hit another ball hard the other way is a good sign. So he’s got a lot of talent, he works hard and he’s gonna be big for us.”
Rojas went 2-for-3 with a walk and stolen base in Wednesday’s 7-6 sweep-clinching victory. Last season, the batting average on balls in play gods shined down on Rojas, and he managed to get quite a few cheaper hits en route to hitting .302 across his first 149 MLB at-bats. But there was nothing cheap about his two hits Wednesday evening.
Just prior to Kyle Schwarber’s second home run of the night, Rojas doubled off the wall in left-center field in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the eighth inning, he took a 95 mph sinker and singled into right field.
The natural follow-up to Turner was to ask what he and Rojas worked on, because clearly it produced strong results.
“I wouldn’t bore you, it’s just hitting stuff. It’s not worth explaining,” Turner said in a tongue-in-cheek manner. “But just the swing, and I mean, I like having conversations with guys. You don’t know how the conversation is going to start, and you don’t know where it’s going to end up. But we talked for a while and just kind of, I’m learning him, he’s learning me type deal. It was a good conversation.”
No one is disputing that Rojas is a world-class defender, as he’s posted 16 defensive runs saved and eight outs above average in his first 523 career innings in center field. If he gets enough at-bats, he’ll not only win a Gold Glove Award, but could take home the Platinum Glove Award as the best overall defender in the National League.
Still, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said after last postseason that the Phillies needed more out of Rojas offensively than they had received in the playoffs, when he recorded just four hits in 43 at-bats. He struggled in Spring Training, and his results at the plate early in the regular season reminded you of when pitchers used to be hitting out of the No. 9 hole.
To his credit, though, Rojas has remained positive and continued to grind. Over his last eight games, he has eight hits, raising his batting average from .045 to .200. His numbers on the season — which include a .524 OPS — are still not good enough to justify him being a regular at the MLB level even with his glove. But his recent performance at the plate, and on the basepaths, have perhaps allowed him to stave off a demotion to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
The person who stands to benefit most from Rojas getting better results offensively is Schwarber, who hits right after him. The veteran slugger has taken notice of not only how intensely Rojas is working to become a better hitter, but that he seems to be doing it in a smart way.
“I think the biggest thing is you see the way that he’s in the cage,” Schwarber said Wednesday night. “And he’s in there early, and he’s working. It’s concentrated work, it’s not just volume work where it’s just hit, hit, hit, hit. There’s a lot things that he’s trying to lock down and he’s been doing such a great job at it and handling it very well.”
Schwarber also pointed to Rojas’ work with Turner in the cages Wednesday when talking about the young center fielder’s strong performance, and as an indication of how good of a culture the Phillies have.
“Being able to see him and Trea today have a conversation down in the cage, and it’s really cool to see guys communicate through what they see and what they feel in their swing and see if it can work for their swing,” Schwarber added. “If it doesn’t work for their swing, then so be it. But it’s cool to see different conversations that can be had throughout the course of a year to see if it can help a guy out to keep improving.”
The recent success Rojas has had offensively may prove to just be a blip on the radar. If he struggles this weekend against the lowly Chicago White Sox and then on the following 10-game road trip, the Phillies might have a decision to make in early May on whether to send him to Triple-A to get more seasoning, with veterans like David Dahl, Jordan Luplow and Kody Clemens all pushing for promotions.
However, if Wednesday’s game ends up being a turning point in Rojas’ season and career, both his work-ethic and the willingness of Turner to help a teammate improve will stand out.
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