Inside The Phillies

Demoted Philadelphia Phillies Outfielder is Dominating Triple-A Pitching

The Philadelphia Phillies are seeing great returns from their demoted outfielder's Triple-A stint.

Dylan Sanders

May 21, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Johan Rojas (18) in a game against the Texas Rangers at Citizens Bank Park.
May 21, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Johan Rojas (18) in a game against the Texas Rangers at Citizens Bank Park. / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
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The Philadelphia Phillies recently sent a batter back down to Triple-A to find his swing and it looks to be working out.

Johan Rojas had gotten off to a horrid start to the season at the plate, which forced a lot of trade speculation and Philadelphia to demote him.

In 58 games played this season at the MLB level, he's slashed just .235/.271/.295 at the plate.

He was much better a year ago where he slashed .302/.342/.430. Hopes were high that he was just in a slump and could fix his bat with a stint in the minors.

The 23-year-old has played seven games in Triple-A this season and is slashing a very productive .414/.452/.552 with one home run, three RBI and five stolen bases. This project looks to be working just as intended.

While the Phillies have been very active in the trade market for another outfielder, it was clear that Rojas was never meant to be in Triple-A for the rest of the year.

"No one within the organization views this current arrangement as a permanent solution. Manager Rob Thomson reiterated the Phillies view Rojas as part of the ideal outfield alignment," wrote Matt Gelb of The Athletic.

The improvements at the plate just make it look like the stint may be shorter than expected.

While no one will be expecting him to play at this level when he does come back to the majors, something closer to what he showed last season will allow Philadelphia a lot more flexibility in the trade market.

As X account Phillies Tailgate pointed out, he's flashed the leather at just as productive of a rate as his bat. In 14 chances he has 14 putouts with no errors.

He's been a stellar defender to start his career, so him excelling at that is no surprise.

So far through 2024, he's at two outs above average. That's a little bit behind pace from six in less innings a year ago, but still very good.

Having him take over the center field position would allow the team to not resort to shipping out top prespects for someone like Luis Robery Jr. or Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Focusing on bringing in a solid bat instead of a long term answer could be more beneficial in a market that is going to be dominated by buyers rather than team's just trying to sell off.

Nick Castellanos has also started to slowly turn his season around. The outfield situation in Philadelphia looks a lot better today than it did a month.

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Dylan Sanders

DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders

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