Name: Johan Rojas
Position: OF
Born: August 14, 2000
Country: Dominican Republic
Bats/Throws: R/R
Height/Weight: 6’1″ 165lbs
How Acquired: International Free Agent
Signed: January 18, 2018
Bonus: $10,000
Options Remaining: 2
Rule 5 Eligible: 2022
MiLB Free Agency: 2024
Stats
Hitter Statcast
*Statcast data only available for FSL (2021-2023), AAA (2023), and isolated select games and locations.
| Year | Balls in Play | Average EV | 90th Percentile EV | Max EV | Median Launch Angle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 208 | 86.9 | 102.6 | 110.2 | 6 |
| 2022 | 3 | 90.2 | 96.4 | 96.8 | -11 |
Prospect Rankings
Role: Regular Center Fielder
Risk: High – Rojas swings at and makes poor contact on a bunch of pitches he shouldn’t, and he does not swing at some pitches he should. He has improved in this area, but his pitch recognition and approach still are not where they need to be. He also hits the ball on the ground a bit too much, which is exacerbated by making contact with pitches he should not be swinging at. If he does not make improvements, he is likely only ever going to be a speed and defense outfielder. There are a whole lot of other great things going on with Rojas, but the hit tool not being where it needs to be is at the core of his profile.
Summary: The Phillies signed Rojas as an interesting bat for $10,000 to fill out their DSL teams in 2018, and he quickly blossomed into a top prospect within a year and a half. He looks the part physically and has most of the scouting report boxes checked. He also is one of the funnest players to watch play, because he goes all out on the field and seems to be having a great time doing it. Those around him rave about his worth ethic and desire to learn and improve.
And the tools are very good. He has at least plus plus speed, possibly 80 grade. He uses it to be a plus plus defensive center fielder with great jumps and range for days. On the bases he is both smart and aggressive, not afraid to always be running, but also getting great jumps and reads. It isn’t just the steals, as he will aggressively take extra bases when on base or turn singles into doubles if the outfielder hesitates. He has good bat speed at the plate, generating some high end exit velocities and overall plus raw power. He also isn’t just selling out for power, as he has a good feel for getting the bat on the baseball. His overall approach in how we usually think about it isn’t bad, he is an aggressive hitter, but he is not a hacker, and he does seem to know what he should be doing.
The problem has been that he does not seem to be recognizing pitches and getting to the place where he is attacking the right pitches in the right places. If he is off on a swing, he often has the ability to get the bat on the ball and foul it off or put it in play. Unfortunately, most of what he is putting in play is ground balls and non-dangerous fly balls. This is also not a new problem, nor is it a problem the Phillies haven’t been trying to solve for the last two years. This year, as a member of the 40 man roster, he will be in big league camp and so the big league staff will get to work with him and the minor league staff to come up with a plan. Historically, the Phillies have not been good at achieving gains in this area (see the rest of this top 50), which is also why they reorganized their hitting dev this year. That is by no means an answer by itself, but it is an acknowledgement that they are not succeeding here.
The Role and Risk above do hide a bit of the overall scope of potential outcomes for Rojas. There is probably a major league role he is not far off of that is being a team’s backup center fielder, who comes in as a defensive replacement and pinch runner. There is an average regular ceiling, that may not be too terribly off of what Brandon Marsh was for them last season, that relies on him improving enough to bat 8th or 9th in a lineup. There is also an outcome above the average regular, also much like Marsh, where this all comes together and maybe either the average or on base aren’t peak, and the power is below potential, but he is an above average hitter with great defense and base running and that is a 4+ win player. It is one of the hardest things in baseball to improve, but Rojas does have the intangibles that are generally positive if you want to bet on someone overcoming difficulty.
2023 Outlook: The Phillies don’t really need Rojas in 2023 unless all of the center fielders get hurt again. He is on the 40 man roster, so you cannot rule out a scenario in September, or perhaps a potential postseason roster spot, where having a speed and defense bench player would provide value. Rojas is on the 40 man roster, so his timer is also now ticking. It makes the most sense for the Phillies and Rojas for him to play as much as possible in 2023, so a start in Reading with a promotion at least for the end of the Lehigh Valley season seems like the plan.
Role: First Division Regular
Risk: High – Rojas has some concerning hit tool trends, particularly in his recognition of breaking balls. He has made improvements in the area, but it is the linchpin skill to him unlocking the offensive impact he has flashed. On the flip side of offensive risk, Rojas is a high energy player with plus plus speed who could be a near elite defensive center fielder and terror on the bases.
Summary: Not every prospect starts out as a coveted amatuer, some start out getting $10,000 to fill out a DSL team and then flash high end skills. Rojas exploded onto the prospect scene in 2019, making it to Williamsport and flashing high end tools along the way. The Phillies invited him to their big league camp for 2020, but unfortunately he came out of it with some scary ground ball tendencies. Those, coupled with a disastrous ABS rollout, led to a very poor opening month where he hit .200/.236/.305 with just 3 walks (2.7%) to 21 strikeouts (18.9%). From there things took off, with Rojas hitting .286/.362/.460 over the final 4 months with a 9.4% BB% and 17.6% K%, topping it off with a stretch for hi-A Jersey Shore where he hit .344/.419/.563 with 7 walks to 8 strikeouts. Rojas has a very quick bat and a knack for getting the bat on the ball. He still is very aggressive at the plate, and his off speed pitch recognition has improved, but is still suspect. The consequence has been that he has made too much ground ball contact and not tapped into his plus raw power as much. The worry is that the poor contact will continue, and his strikeout rate will balloon as his bat speed won’t be enough to bail him out vs plus major league sliders. If he can swing at the right pitches while continuing to make improvements in his bat path (the Phillies coaches have worked heavily with Rojas on getting him to hit the ball in the air more), he has an impact offensive upside. With the Threshers, he showed consistent hard contact and flashed high end exit velocities as well. On the base paths, Rojas is an aggressive and opportunistic base runner and has the plus plus speed to make it a weapon. The speed carries over to the outfield where he can cover a ton of ground and projects as a plus plus defender with multiple people mentioning gold glove upside. Rojas is still very raw and needs to really put his tools into action on the field more, and the hit tool questions do loom large over all of this. Rojas is an information sponge and hard worker off the field. On the field, his energy is infectious and he is seemingly always in motion and at full speed, making him a delight to watch. His glove gives him a high floor as a defensive specialist, but he has enough upside if it comes together to be a long term impact player for the Phillies.
2022 Outlook: Rojas ended the year in hi-A for 17 games, and while they were very good games, he probably needs some more time there with an eye towards reaching AA by the middle of the season.
Johan Rojas is the nobody of the bunch. A 5 figure international signing brought in for DSL depth, he certainly looks the part of the top prospect now. Rojas is athletic with a plus arm, plus to plus plus speed, plenty of raw bat speed, and a body that both has present strength and plenty of projection. On defense, Rojas profiles as a plus defensive center fielder, and would be near elite in a corner. At the plate, his approach is completely raw and he is still a hacker with little approach. He also has not yet played above short season ball, and it said a lot about how the Phillies view him that he was part of their spring training group. He has the raw tools to be a plus or better hitter with plus power, it is just going to take a long time. He is probably the most exciting and highest upside hitting prospect in the org.
Role: First Division Regular
Risk: Extreme – Rojas has the making of impact tools, but he is incredibly rough around the edges. While his defense in center field gives him a decent floor, his hit tool has a very long way to go.
Summary: Over the last decade, there has been a proliferation of prospect writing and analysis across the Internet. Yet, there continue to be gaps in our vision, players that go completely unseen for weeks or months by public facing writing. There was nothing on Johan Rojas’ stat page last offseason that would have made you predict he would be a top 10 prospect a year later (though he did hit very well as a 17 year old in the DSL). The Phillies’ dearth of talent in Extended Spring Training and early in the GCL season did not make them a destination scouting location. Many of the reports from those locations would filter out once Rojas arrived in Williamsport. Mitch Rupert of the Williamsport Sun Gazette was the first public facing person to draw attention to Rojas, and just from grainy video it is easy to see why. Rojas is an explosive athlete, a plus plus runner who already plays the outfield with reckless abandon. He has great bat speed, and the ball will jump off his bat. He also is extremely raw, which is why he is not being pushed as one of the very top prospects in the system. He currently has large contact problems at the plate due to an approach that involves swinging very hard at a lot of pitches. His swing mechanics are not consistent, and he is going to need to quiet them. Even with his obvious holes, there is a lot of optimism because he is so inexperienced. The 2019 season was just Rojas 2nd pro season, and he didn’t turn 19 until late in the summer. He was not a big time July 2 prospect, so he is just starting to see upper level competition. Then there is the defense. Rojas projects to be at minimum a plus defensive center fielder, and that kind of banked outcome gives him a high floor and gives him time for the offensive skill set to come around. If everything clicks, there is a chance he is a solid hitter with plus power and large defensive value. There is a chance that the hit tool never comes around, and he is more of a Michael A. Taylor typeplayer, who is a solid 4th OF because of his glove and pop, but ultimately cannot hit enough to play everyday. Rojas’ early season stats in Lakewood are going to be one of the most watched things in the 2020 season.
2020 Outlook: Rojas held his own enough to earn a start in Lakewood for 2020. Given the move to full season ball, and how pitcher friendly the park is, his numbers could look ugly at times.
Role: Regular Center Fielder
Risk: High – Rojas swings at and makes poor contact on a bunch of pitches he shouldn’t, and he does not swing at some pitches he should. He has improved in this area, but his pitch recognition and approach still are not where they need to be. He also hits the ball on the ground a bit too much, which is exacerbated by making contact with pitches he should not be swinging at. If he does not make improvements, he is likely only ever going to be a speed and defense outfielder. There are a whole lot of other great things going on with Rojas, but the hit tool not being where it needs to be is at the core of his profile.
Summary: The Phillies signed Rojas as an interesting bat for $10,000 to fill out their DSL teams in 2018, and he quickly blossomed into a top prospect within a year and a half. He looks the part physically and has most of the scouting report boxes checked. He also is one of the funnest players to watch play, because he goes all out on the field and seems to be having a great time doing it. Those around him rave about his worth ethic and desire to learn and improve.
And the tools are very good. He has at least plus plus speed, possibly 80 grade. He uses it to be a plus plus defensive center fielder with great jumps and range for days. On the bases he is both smart and aggressive, not afraid to always be running, but also getting great jumps and reads. It isn’t just the steals, as he will aggressively take extra bases when on base or turn singles into doubles if the outfielder hesitates. He has good bat speed at the plate, generating some high end exit velocities and overall plus raw power. He also isn’t just selling out for power, as he has a good feel for getting the bat on the baseball. His overall approach in how we usually think about it isn’t bad, he is an aggressive hitter, but he is not a hacker, and he does seem to know what he should be doing.
The problem has been that he does not seem to be recognizing pitches and getting to the place where he is attacking the right pitches in the right places. If he is off on a swing, he often has the ability to get the bat on the ball and foul it off or put it in play. Unfortunately, most of what he is putting in play is ground balls and non-dangerous fly balls. This is also not a new problem, nor is it a problem the Phillies haven’t been trying to solve for the last two years. This year, as a member of the 40 man roster, he will be in big league camp and so the big league staff will get to work with him and the minor league staff to come up with a plan. Historically, the Phillies have not been good at achieving gains in this area (see the rest of this top 50), which is also why they reorganized their hitting dev this year. That is by no means an answer by itself, but it is an acknowledgement that they are not succeeding here.
The Role and Risk above do hide a bit of the overall scope of potential outcomes for Rojas. There is probably a major league role he is not far off of that is being a team’s backup center fielder, who comes in as a defensive replacement and pinch runner. There is an average regular ceiling, that may not be too terribly off of what Brandon Marsh was for them last season, that relies on him improving enough to bat 8th or 9th in a lineup. There is also an outcome above the average regular, also much like Marsh, where this all comes together and maybe either the average or on base aren’t peak, and the power is below potential, but he is an above average hitter with great defense and base running and that is a 4+ win player. It is one of the hardest things in baseball to improve, but Rojas does have the intangibles that are generally positive if you want to bet on someone overcoming difficulty.
2023 Outlook: The Phillies don’t really need Rojas in 2023 unless all of the center fielders get hurt again. He is on the 40 man roster, so you cannot rule out a scenario in September, or perhaps a potential postseason roster spot, where having a speed and defense bench player would provide value. Rojas is on the 40 man roster, so his timer is also now ticking. It makes the most sense for the Phillies and Rojas for him to play as much as possible in 2023, so a start in Reading with a promotion at least for the end of the Lehigh Valley season seems like the plan.
Role: First Division Regular
Risk: High – Rojas has some concerning hit tool trends, particularly in his recognition of breaking balls. He has made improvements in the area, but it is the linchpin skill to him unlocking the offensive impact he has flashed. On the flip side of offensive risk, Rojas is a high energy player with plus plus speed who could be a near elite defensive center fielder and terror on the bases.
Summary: Not every prospect starts out as a coveted amatuer, some start out getting $10,000 to fill out a DSL team and then flash high end skills. Rojas exploded onto the prospect scene in 2019, making it to Williamsport and flashing high end tools along the way. The Phillies invited him to their big league camp for 2020, but unfortunately he came out of it with some scary ground ball tendencies. Those, coupled with a disastrous ABS rollout, led to a very poor opening month where he hit .200/.236/.305 with just 3 walks (2.7%) to 21 strikeouts (18.9%). From there things took off, with Rojas hitting .286/.362/.460 over the final 4 months with a 9.4% BB% and 17.6% K%, topping it off with a stretch for hi-A Jersey Shore where he hit .344/.419/.563 with 7 walks to 8 strikeouts. Rojas has a very quick bat and a knack for getting the bat on the ball. He still is very aggressive at the plate, and his off speed pitch recognition has improved, but is still suspect. The consequence has been that he has made too much ground ball contact and not tapped into his plus raw power as much. The worry is that the poor contact will continue, and his strikeout rate will balloon as his bat speed won’t be enough to bail him out vs plus major league sliders. If he can swing at the right pitches while continuing to make improvements in his bat path (the Phillies coaches have worked heavily with Rojas on getting him to hit the ball in the air more), he has an impact offensive upside. With the Threshers, he showed consistent hard contact and flashed high end exit velocities as well. On the base paths, Rojas is an aggressive and opportunistic base runner and has the plus plus speed to make it a weapon. The speed carries over to the outfield where he can cover a ton of ground and projects as a plus plus defender with multiple people mentioning gold glove upside. Rojas is still very raw and needs to really put his tools into action on the field more, and the hit tool questions do loom large over all of this. Rojas is an information sponge and hard worker off the field. On the field, his energy is infectious and he is seemingly always in motion and at full speed, making him a delight to watch. His glove gives him a high floor as a defensive specialist, but he has enough upside if it comes together to be a long term impact player for the Phillies.
2022 Outlook: Rojas ended the year in hi-A for 17 games, and while they were very good games, he probably needs some more time there with an eye towards reaching AA by the middle of the season.
Johan Rojas is the nobody of the bunch. A 5 figure international signing brought in for DSL depth, he certainly looks the part of the top prospect now. Rojas is athletic with a plus arm, plus to plus plus speed, plenty of raw bat speed, and a body that both has present strength and plenty of projection. On defense, Rojas profiles as a plus defensive center fielder, and would be near elite in a corner. At the plate, his approach is completely raw and he is still a hacker with little approach. He also has not yet played above short season ball, and it said a lot about how the Phillies view him that he was part of their spring training group. He has the raw tools to be a plus or better hitter with plus power, it is just going to take a long time. He is probably the most exciting and highest upside hitting prospect in the org.
Role: First Division Regular
Risk: Extreme – Rojas has the making of impact tools, but he is incredibly rough around the edges. While his defense in center field gives him a decent floor, his hit tool has a very long way to go.
Summary: Over the last decade, there has been a proliferation of prospect writing and analysis across the Internet. Yet, there continue to be gaps in our vision, players that go completely unseen for weeks or months by public facing writing. There was nothing on Johan Rojas’ stat page last offseason that would have made you predict he would be a top 10 prospect a year later (though he did hit very well as a 17 year old in the DSL). The Phillies’ dearth of talent in Extended Spring Training and early in the GCL season did not make them a destination scouting location. Many of the reports from those locations would filter out once Rojas arrived in Williamsport. Mitch Rupert of the Williamsport Sun Gazette was the first public facing person to draw attention to Rojas, and just from grainy video it is easy to see why. Rojas is an explosive athlete, a plus plus runner who already plays the outfield with reckless abandon. He has great bat speed, and the ball will jump off his bat. He also is extremely raw, which is why he is not being pushed as one of the very top prospects in the system. He currently has large contact problems at the plate due to an approach that involves swinging very hard at a lot of pitches. His swing mechanics are not consistent, and he is going to need to quiet them. Even with his obvious holes, there is a lot of optimism because he is so inexperienced. The 2019 season was just Rojas 2nd pro season, and he didn’t turn 19 until late in the summer. He was not a big time July 2 prospect, so he is just starting to see upper level competition. Then there is the defense. Rojas projects to be at minimum a plus defensive center fielder, and that kind of banked outcome gives him a high floor and gives him time for the offensive skill set to come around. If everything clicks, there is a chance he is a solid hitter with plus power and large defensive value. There is a chance that the hit tool never comes around, and he is more of a Michael A. Taylor typeplayer, who is a solid 4th OF because of his glove and pop, but ultimately cannot hit enough to play everyday. Rojas’ early season stats in Lakewood are going to be one of the most watched things in the 2020 season.
2020 Outlook: Rojas held his own enough to earn a start in Lakewood for 2020. Given the move to full season ball, and how pitcher friendly the park is, his numbers could look ugly at times.