Johan Stiven Rojas (born August 14, 2000) is a Dominican

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). Rojas signed with the Phillies as an international free agent in 2018.

Career

Rojas signed with the

as an international free agent on January 18, 2018. He made his professional debut with the

Dominican Summer League Phillies The Dominican Summer Phillies are a minor league baseball team in the Dominican Summer League. The team plays in the Boca Chica North division and is affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American profess ...

, posting a .321 average across 68 games. In 2019, Rojas played for the rookie–level

Gulf Coast Phillies The Florida Complex League Phillies are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Phillies. The team plays ...

and Low–A Williamsport Crosscutters, batting .265/.313/.429 with 2 home runs, 15 RBI, and 14 stolen bases. Due to the cancellation of the 2020 Minor League Baseball season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Rojas did not play for a team. He returned to action in 2021 to play for the rookie–level

Florida Complex League Phillies The Florida Complex League Phillies are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Phillies. The team plays ...

, Single–A

Clearwater Threshers The Clearwater Threshers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Clearwater, Florida, and have played their home games at BayCare Ballpark since 2 ...

and High–A Jersey Shore Blue Claws. In 96 games between the three affiliates, Rojas slashed .263/.329/.417 with career–highs in home runs (11), RBI (52), and stolen bases (34). In 2022, Rojas played for Jersey Shore and the Double–A Reading Fightin Phils, hitting .244/.309/.354 with 7 home runs, 38 RBI, and 62 stolen bases across 130 games. He played in the 2022 Arizona Fall League, where he batted .310/.423/.452, and was second in the league with 13 stolen bases, without being caught. Rojas was optioned to Double-A Reading to begin the 2023 season. In 76 games for Reading, he batted .306/.361/.484 with 9 home runs, 45 RBI, and 30 stolen bases. On July 14, 2023, Rojas was promoted to the major leagues for the first time following an injury to Cristian Pache. On August 11, Rojas hit his first career home run against

Jordan Luplow Jordan Thomas Luplow ( ; born September 26, 1993) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians, Tampa Bay Rays ...

of the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

. On September 26, during extra innings, Rojas recorded his first career walk-off hit. The walk-off also secured the Phillies a spot in the MLB playoffs for the second straight season. He ended the 2023 season with a regular season record of .302/.342/.430 over 59 games, with 2 home runs, 23 RBI, and 14 stolen bases, and a postseason record of .093/.114/.163 over 13 games. Following the season, Rojas was named the winner of the organization's

Paul Owens Award This is a list of award winners and league leaders for the Philadelphia Phillies professional baseball team. Award winners Most Valuable Player (NL) :Note: This award was known as the Kenesaw Mountain Landis Memorial Baseball Award 1944-2019. : ...

for position player for the 2023 season. Rojas was the Phillies' starting center fielder on

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

2024 despite poor batting performance in the 2023 postseason and during 2024

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

. When shortstop

Trea Turner Trea Vance Turner (born June 30, 1993) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers. Turner pla ...

returned to the team from the

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

in mid-June, Rojas was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs both to make room for Turner on the roster and to allow Rojas time to improve on his offensive capabilities. He was recalled from Lehigh Valley on June 28 following injuries to Bryce Harper and

Kyle Schwarber Kyle Joseph Schwarber (born March 5, 1993) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the Indiana Hoosiers and was a first-round selection in the 20 ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rojas, Johan 2000 births Living people Clearwater Threshers players Dominican Summer League Phillies players Florida Complex League Phillies players Jersey Shore BlueClaws players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Philadelphia Phillies players Reading Fightin Phils players Surprise Saguaros players Tigres del Licey players Williamsport Crosscutters players