Dodgers News: Miguel Rojas Admits He Took First Time Playing with LA for Granted

New Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas didn't fully appreciate the Dodger Stadium crowd his first time with the team, but he appreciates LA fans a lot more now.

There's nothing better to make you appreciate a great baseball crowd than playing eight years in Miami. Miguel Rojas came up with the Dodgers in 2014 and played 85 games with LA before being traded to the Marlins that offseason. As Rojas told Chris Rose on Friday, he didn't totally appreciate what he had in Los Angeles as a rookie.

"The fans in Los Angeles, they really care and they really show up every single day. Probably not the same people every single day, we've got new fans every single day. And when my time was there in 2014, I didn't enjoy all of that because I was so consumed about something else. I was trying to prove a name for myself. I was trying to actually stay in the big leagues. I didn't know if I was gonna be just filling a hole while Juan Uribe was getting healthy, or Hanley Ramirez was getting healthy.

"Then, I ended up staying the whole time over there during that year, even in the playoffs, and I didn't enjoy 40-45,000 every single day, you know? I didn't realize that it happens, and I took it for granted, kind of.

"At home, on the road, everywhere, the Dodgers fans were showing up. And I can't wait to actually go back and understand that that's something that means a lot to an organization and to a player, because I miss it, man. I miss that energy. I love playing in Dodger Stadium as a visitor, as well, because every time you go there, it's entertainment."

The Dodgers' lowest attendance at a home game in 2022 was 35,643 against the Diamondbacks in a May 18 day game. That 35,643 would have been the fourth-highest attendance at a Marlins Park game in Rojas's eight years in Miami. The other 80 games at Dodger Stadium in 2022 all had higher attendance than any home game Rojas ever played for the Marlins.

Put another way, the Marlins had 139 home games during Rojas's tenure with at least 20,000 fans in attendance. During that same period, the Dodgers had 165 games with at least 50,000 and 507 games with at least 40,000.

So yeah, it makes sense that Rojas didn't fully appreciate the Dodger Stadium crowd until he saw the other side. And it makes sense that he's thrilled to be coming back to LA.