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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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 catch ...

for the

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

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

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

Early life

Johan Stiven Rojas was born August 14, 2000, in

San Francisco de Macorís San Francisco de Macorís is a city in the Dominican Republic located in the northeast portion of the country, in the Cibao region. It is the capital of the Duarte Province and the sixth most populated city in the country since 2010. The name ...

, to Juan and Yaniris Rojas. Originally a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

, Rojas received his first baseball glove as a gift when he was 16 years old. As an adolescent, Rojas received little attention from

scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

who rarely visited the Dominican Republic's rural northeast. A scout for the

(MLB) noticed Rojas's athleticism and sprint speed while canvassing the area and invited Rojas to the team's academy in

Boca Chica Boca Chica is a municipality (''municipio'') of the Santo Domingo province in the Dominican Republic. Within the municipality there is one municipal district (''distritos municipal''): La Caleta. As of the 2022 census it had 167,040 inhabitan ...

Career

Minor leagues (2018–2023)

While attending their Boca Chica academy, Rojas impressed the Phillies with his energy and exit velocity on

batted ball In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a Pitch (baseball), pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair ball, fair or foul ball, foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line driv ...

s, and he signed with the organization as an international free agent on January 18, 2018, for $10,000. 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 professio ...

, 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 i ...

and Low–A

Williamsport Crosscutters The Williamsport Crosscutters are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and play their home games at Journey Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field. From 1994 to 2020, they w ...

, batting .265/.313/.429 with 2 home runs, 15 RBI, and 14 stolen bases. Rojas did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. 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 i ...

, 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 20 ...

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 The Reading Fightin Phils (also called the Reading Fightins) are a Minor League Baseball team based in Reading, Pennsylvania, playing in the Northeast Division of the Eastern League. The team plays their home games at FirstEnergy Stadium. The R ...

, 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 The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

, where he batted .310/.423/.452, and was second in the league with 13 stolen bases, without being caught. On November 15, 2022, the Phillies added Rojas to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. 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.

Philadelphia Phillies (2023–present)

On July 14, 2023, Rojas was promoted to the major leagues for the first time following an injury to

Cristian Pache Cristian Rafael Pache ( ; born November 19, 1998) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Oakland Athletics, Philade ...

. 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 High Point Rockers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsbu ...

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) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

. 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 year ...

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

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

. 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 for the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers. At the internation ...

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 The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and they are named in reference to pig iron, used ...

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 Bryce Aron Max Harper (born October 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball first baseman and right fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Washington Nationals. One o ...

and

Kyle Schwarber Kyle Joseph Schwarber (born March 5, 1993) is an American professional baseball left fielder and designated hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs, Washington Nati ...

. In 2024 Rojas was one of the fastest players in

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

, with a sprint speed of 30.1 fps, second only to Bobby Witt Jr. He stole 25 bases and was caught stealing 4 times, in 338 at-bats. Following the 2024 MLB season, Rojas played

winter league baseball Winter league baseball is baseball contested in sports leagues during what is generally considered the baseball off-season. Background Annually, the highest level of professional baseball competition, Major League Baseball (MLB), begins with spri ...

for the

Gigantes del Cibao The Gigantes del Cibao (English language, English: Cibao Giants) are a baseball team that plays in the Dominican Winter League. The team was founded in 1996 as ''Gigantes del Noroeste ''then with a change of ownership the name was changed severa ...

of the

Dominican Professional Baseball League The Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League ( or LIDOM) is a professional baseball winter league consisting of six teams spread across the Dominican Republic; it is the highest level of professional baseball played in the Dominican Repub ...

. During the playoffs, he played for

Tigres del Licey Tigres del Licey (English: Licey Tigers) is a professional baseball team in the Dominican Professional Baseball League (LIDOM). The team was founded in 1907 and is based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Tigres is the oldest team in LIDOM and ...

Personal life

In August 2024, Rojas filed a

grievance A grievance () is a wrong or hardship suffered, real or supposed, which forms legitimate grounds of complaint. In the past, the word meant the infliction or cause of hardship. See also * Complaint system * Harm Harm is a morality, moral and ...

against his former

sports agent A sports agent is a legal representative (hence agent (law), agent) for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and Testimonial, endorsement contracts for the principal (commercial law), at ...

Yasser Mendez, alleging that Mendez had engaged in financial misconduct. The grievance alleged that, while Rojas was still in the minor leagues, Mendez had convinced him to take out $875,000 in loans and invest that money into Mendez's baseball academy, advice which was "intentionally, recklessly, or negligently wrong".

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 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Philadelphia Phillies players Reading Fightin Phils players Surprise Saguaros players Tigres del Licey players Williamsport Crosscutters players Baseball players from San Francisco de Macorís