PHILADELPHIA — When Cristian Pache landed on the injured listing in mid-July, the Phillies turned to 22-year-old Johan Rojas to select up the slack.
The plan, on the time, was easy: Rojas would merely fill Pache’s function because the fourth outfielder.
That meant beginning in middle discipline towards southpaws instead of the left-handed-hitting Brandon Marsh — who was positioned on the 10-day injured listing with a left knee contusion previous to Sunday’s 8-4 win over the Royals at Citizens Bank Park — whereas additionally offering a late-game choice as both a pinch-runner or defensive alternative.
And given the timing, it additionally supplied a 2 1/2-week window forward of the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline for the Phillies to showcase Rojas’ skillset as a possible commerce chip.
Rojas, nonetheless, performed nicely sufficient out of the gate that he not solely earned some begins towards right-handers, however he satisfied the Phillies that it was finest to focus their Deadline enhancements elsewhere.
Now, Rojas would be the membership’s on a regular basis middle fielder in the interim.
Marsh entered the clubhouse on crutches Sunday morning after crashing laborious into the center-field wall within the fifth inning of Saturday’s recreation. The membership is optimistic he will not miss various weeks after X-rays and an MRI got here again clear.
“Probably two, three weeks,” supervisor Rob Thomson stated Sunday morning. “If it’s sooner than that, great.”
In the meantime, Rojas will get the vast majority of enjoying time in middle discipline.
“First and foremost, I have to give thanks to God for giving me the opportunity to play in the big leagues,” Rojas stated by way of interpreter Diego Ettedgui. “That has been a dream of mine since I was a kid. It’s been fun.”
While the Phillies’ No. 5 prospect shall be anticipated to fill the void defensively, it can take a collective effort to offset Marsh’s absence on the offensive aspect.
After all, Marsh leads all certified Phillies hitters in each on-base proportion (.369) and slugging proportion (.463). Though he cooled off in May following a blistering begin, Marsh had as soon as once more been locked in on the plate since mid-June. Over his previous 35 video games earlier than touchdown on the IL, he hit .346 with 15 extra-base hits, 17 RBIs and a .987 OPS.
“Obviously, it’s a loss. He’s one of our better hitters,” Thomson stated. “But the other guys have to pick it up. If the other guys hit like they’re supposed to hit, we shouldn’t miss a beat.”
That was actually the case on Sunday, when each Phillies starter besides Edmundo Sosa notched at the least one hit. Kyle Schwarber hit his team-leading twenty eighth house run. Nick Castellanos hit his third homer prior to now 5 video games. Bryson Stott hit his first profession opposite-field shot.
On the defensive aspect, Jake Cave and Weston Wilson — who had his contract chosen from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Marsh’s roster spot — are additionally able to patrolling middle.
While there was by no means a query about Rojas’ defensive capabilities, his offense has been a pleasing shock. With two hits on Sunday, he’s batting .326 with three doubles, eight RBIs and 4 stolen bases in his first 17 profession video games.
Entering Sunday, Rojas had additionally accounted for 3 Defensive Runs Saved in simply 108 innings in middle discipline. To put that in perspective, solely 10 middle fielders have extra DRS this season — and every has performed at the least 200 innings in middle.
“[Marsh] brings a lot to the team. He’s like a brother to me,” Rojas stated. “He can contribute in many different ways. So hopefully he’s back in no time. In the meantime, I’m going to take advantage of the moment and do my best to cover him.”
Albeit an especially restricted pattern, the right-handed-hitting Rojas has greater than performed his half towards left-handed pitchers. He entered Sunday hitting .368 (7-for-19) with a pair of doubles and an .842 OPS in these spots.
But towards righties, Rojas was hitting simply .238 (5-for-21) with one double and a .590 OPS.
With Marsh out for at the least a few weeks, Rojas ought to get loads of probabilities to enhance on these numbers. Though Pache (proper elbow irritation) might start a rehab task this week, he was used nearly completely towards lefties earlier than touchdown on the IL. Pache hit .405 with a 1.135 OPS towards southpaws whereas going simply 1-for-12 (.083) in his restricted alternatives vs. righties.
Meanwhile, Thomson will seemingly deploy a platoon in left discipline. The left-handed-hitting Cave will begin towards right-handers and the right-handed-hitting Wilson will begin towards lefties, with Schwarber additionally beginning in left — as he did on Sunday — when he is not serving because the designated hitter.
“He’s been doing such a fantastic job throughout the whole season, so having him hit the IL is obviously not ideal,” Schwarber stated. “We’re going to miss him for however many days that is, but … the beautiful thing about our lineup is we’ve got really talented players throughout the whole lineup.”
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