Philadelphia Phillies: The Daycare has added yet another member

The Philadelphia Phillies daycare has been leading the way for the Phillies this season. At times, it has felt like the members of the daycare have been the biggest catalyst to the success of the Phillies lineup while their superstars have been struggling.

Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh and Alec Bohm have been nothing short of amazing. At the halfway point, the leap that the daycare took this season is one that has helped propel the Phillies offense and defense when things seemed like they were going to spiral out of control. Adding Johan Rojas to the mix has made this team even better.

Johan Rojas is a part of the Philadelphia Phillies daycare

While the value of the rest of the daycare has made itself known, the big question was on whether not Rojas was going to be traded at the deadline.

“From the right-handed hitting perspective, we talked long and hard,” Dombrowski said. “We really like the job that Rojas has done for us. He’s a young kid coming up that’s given us energy. We like him, so it’s a situation where his defense, of course, is outstanding, his speed is outstanding too, he’s felt comfortable at the big-league level, and we often asked ourselves ‘Do we feel like he’s overwhelmed?’ The answer kept coming back no.”

Rojas has become a great complimentary piece to this team. His defense and skill have allowed manager Rob Thomson to take Kyle Schwarber out of the field and move him to the DH. With this kind of defense, why wouldn’t you push Brandon Marsh to left field?

Rojas has definitely given this team a spark. While Christian Pache has been injured, the Phillies needed an outfielder who could play defense and get hits. Rojas has given both while showing potential star power. Usually, a World Series team needs a player that can be a big surprise and ultimately help the team in big moments. Rojas has done exactly that.

Rojas is slugging .326/.356/.395 in 17 games. Rojas has shown he can hit both left- and right-handed pitchers. Rojas is hitting .292 against RHP and .368 against LHP. When Pache and Marsh return, Thomson will have a good platoon of young outfielders that can play.

There are still plenty of games left to be played but, as of right now, it looks like Johan Rojas is going to be a mainstay for this team.