OC Register: Angels’ Jose Rojas making noise with his bat again

[AngelsWin.com]

TEMPE, Ariz. — Jose Rojas may be forcing his way on to the Angels’ roster.

At first glance, there is no good fit for how the Angels would use Rojas, but he has hit the ball so well in spring training that manager Joe Maddon conceded he’s leading to some tough decisions.

“It’s hard to run away from a bat like that,” Maddon said this week.

Rojas is 8 for 14 with two doubles and two homers this spring. He’s walked five times and struck out just two.

Certainly, that’s too small of a sample size to draw many conclusions, but Rojas is a player who fought his way to the big leagues with a bat that looked so good the Angels could overlook his lack of a true defensive position.

Rojas, 29, responded by hitting just .208 with a .676 OPS in 184 plate appearances.

He hit .190 with a .610 OPS before he was sent back to Triple-A in early June. After he returned, he had 54 plate appearances over two stints and he hit .255 with an .841 OPS.

“Last year, we kept him on a team because we saw a lot of the same thing (hitting well in spring training),” Maddon said. “I think the difference now is he’s going to do that during the season. When he came up the second time, I thought we all saw the real talent there. The first time it might have got a little bit quick on him, but right now the guy’s a major-league hitter.”

Rojas conceded he feels different now than a year ago.

“It just allows you to be confident without imagining what (the big leagues) are like,” the Anaheim native and Anaheim High grad said. “You know what it’s like. So it’s a confidence booster. It feels good to be back with the same mindset of doing the best you can to contribute to the team, one way or another.”

How he would contribute remains to be seen.

Rojas is a left-handed hitter, so he can’t really platoon with Jared Walsh at first base. The Angels no longer need him at second base, because they have a lefty (Tyler Wade) and a righty (Matt Duffy) at that spot, with Jack Mayfield perhaps also making the roster.

Rojas could play some third base when Anthony Rendon needs a day off.

Rojas could be a corner outfielder. The top three corner outfielders — Justin Upton, Jo Adell and Taylor Ward — are all right-handed hitters.

His best role may be as the Angels’ top pinch-hitting option.

MORE ROSTER CLARITY

The Angels began camp with five players in the running to pair with Fletcher in the middle infield. Duffy signed a major-league contract and Wade is out of options, so the true competition was among Luis Rengifo, Andrew Velazquez and Mayfield.

On the off day Wednesday, the Angels optioned Rengifo and Velazquez, leaving Mayfield.

“Jack Mayfield proved to me last year that he was a lot more than I thought,” Maddon said. “With the bat and in the field when he was in Houston, the way they used him, I just thought he was a Judy, just slap the ball around a little bit. Give a guy a day off because they had nobody else. But that’s not true. This guy’s really good. He’s a good defender. He’s good base runner. He’s got pop. He’s a great teammate. He’s a tough guy. Never complains…  I don’t think there’d be any manager in the league that would not like to have him once you get to know everything that he can do and what he’s about. He’s good.”

At this point, it seems the Angels are trying to decide which one or two of Rojas, Mayfield or Brandon Marsh will make the Opening Day Roster. If they go with 10 relievers, one will make it, and if they go with nine, they can keep two.

The bubble relievers include José Marte, Oliver Ortega, Jimmy Herget, Kyle Barraclough and Brian Moran. One or two of them will make it.

All of this applies to a 28-man roster. Starting May 2, the roster will be cut to 26 players.

Maddon also said the Angels have decided on their No. 6 starter, but he couldn’t announce it yet. Reid Detmers, who is scheduled to start the Angels’ exhibition game Friday, is expected to win the spot. Jaime Barria, who is out of options, would likely be a part of the Angels’ bullpen.

NEW RULES

Major League Baseball officially announced its new rules, including the “Amended Designated Hitter Rule,” which is likely to be more commonly called the Ohtani Rule. It allows a player to start on the mound and at DH, and be treated as two separate players for purposes of substations. It’s a significant help to the Angels, because Ohtani can now remain in the game at DH even when he’s done pitching.

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MLB also officially announced that it will use the extra-inning rule with a runner starting at second base, and the roster expansion.

Once rosters revert to 26 in May, teams will be limited to 13 pitchers. This could be an advantage for the Angels, because Ohtani doesn’t count as a pitcher, but the Angels are using a six-man rotation. They’ll still be limited to the same eight-man bullpen as teams with a five-man rotation.

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[failos]

Article title is gross.

[Revad]

Defensively, how does Rojas compare to Ward and Adell?  

[tdawg87]

He needs to stop doing that. His teammates are frankly getting irritated.

[Jason]

1 hour ago, tdawg87 said:

He needs to stop doing that. His teammates are frankly getting irritated.

[greginpsca]

his defense makes him a good candidate to be a dh somewhere.

[BTH]

17 hours ago, Revad said:

Defensively, how does Rojas compare to Ward and Adell?  

I'd say Ward's > Rojas, Rojas = Adell.

[Revad]

19 minutes ago, Trendon said:

I'd say Ward's > Rojas, Rojas = Adell.

Yes, that’s how I see it although Adell has more room to improve. 

[totdprods]

On 3/31/2022 at 11:35 PM, greginpsca said:

his defense makes him a good candidate to be a dh somewhere.

Barria + one of Rojas/Rengifo/Thaiss to a non-contender/middling team for a young #4-5-type SP with an option or two remaining could be a good move.

[UndertheHalo]

I don’t get it with Rojas.  He’s never impressed me.  What do I know I guess. 

[Angels 1961]

Just now, UndertheHalo said:

I don’t get it with Rojas.  He’s never impressed me.  What do I know I guess. 

He can hit

[totdprods]

14 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

I don’t get it with Rojas.  He’s never impressed me.  What do I know I guess. 

It's not indicative of anything, but Rojas and Walsh were neither seen as top prospects, yet both hit hit hit in the minors.

Rojas' first ~100 MLB PA: .180/.240/.348/.588 with 11 XBH, 6 BB, 26 K
Walsh's first ~90 MLB PA: .203/.276/.329/.605 with 7 XBH, 6 BB, 35 K

Rojas' next ~90 MLB PA: .241/.318/.456/.774 with 9 XBH, 9 BB, 24 K
Walsh' next ~100 MLB PA: .293/.324/.646/.971 with 15 XBH, 5 BB, 15 K

The only real point I'm trying to make is you can't judge someone like Rojas off limited time in the bigs yet. Cut his year in half, and he clearly started showing some signs of improvement in the second half of his first ~200ish MLB PAs, just like Walsh did. Especially for late-blooming, non-prospect types. This isn't just an MLB thing too. I tracked the hell out of both these guys in the minors and this was a clear pattern for both of them whenever they advanced a level. They'd struggle hard for the first 100-200 PA, often times being demoted back or starting the season a level below where they finished. They'd rake, get promoted, and with those first 100-200 PA out of the way already, would keep on hitting. 

We've seen Walsh follow that exact pattern in the bigs, to the point where he made an All-Star team and displaced a $30m HOFer. And while it doesn't prove Rojas is the next to succeed, nor is it a particularly unusual pattern for a minor league hitter, he has shown enough there (especially with his strong spring showing) to have at least a bit of hope that there's an above-average MLB bat there. Rojas hit like an average, maybe slightly above-average, hitter in the second half of his MLB career so far. That's worth exploring. There's decent discipline, decent contact, and solid pop there. Taylor Ward is another example, just with far more PAs on each side of the totally sucking to totally being alright spectrum.

Edited April 2, 2022 by totdprods

[Angel Oracle]

Just wish Rojas was better in the field.

[totdprods]

8 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Just wish Rojas was better in the field.

Yeah...if he was even just average defensively at any position it'd be a huge boost. The only thing defensively he has going for him is he at least can stand at 5 different positions. 

What appeals to me the most about Rojas is that he represents some left-handed power insurance in the event Ohtani can't DH (Upton?) Walsh gets hurt (zero 1B depth), Rendon gets hurt (only light-hitting 2B/SS-type options)....Rojas is the perfect guy to keep on the 40-man as a safety net if any of those scenarios occur, so long as he has options. And especially with Thaiss now a full-time catcher. It was different when he was spotting time at the corners. We really don't have anyone else with left-handed power and corner capability at an MLB-ready level. 

It's a very minimal role in terms of org depth, but he fills it perfectly for now, and no one else is really close. Roles go beyond RF, or 4th OF, or back-up catcher, or #7 SP. Sometimes they're a little more broadly defined, and what Rojas currently occupies is something we don't have much of, and while it isn't difficult to replace, I don't think it's something you just cut out easily until there's some more solutions on the horizon.

Edited April 2, 2022 by totdprods

[UndertheHalo]

21 minutes ago, totdprods said:

It's not indicative of anything, but Rojas and Walsh were neither seen as top prospects, yet both hit hit hit in the minors.

Rojas' first ~100 MLB PA: .180/.240/.348/.588 with 11 XBH, 6 BB, 26 K
Walsh's first ~90 MLB PA: .203/.276/.329/.605 with 7 XBH, 6 BB, 35 K

Rojas' next ~90 MLB PA: .241/.318/.456/.774 with 9 XBH, 9 BB, 24 K
Walsh' next ~100 MLB PA: .293/.324/.646/.971 with 15 XBH, 5 BB, 15 K

The only real point I'm trying to make is you can't judge someone like Rojas off limited time in the bigs yet. Cut his year in half, and he clearly started showing some signs of improvement in the second half of his first ~200ish MLB PAs, just like Walsh did. Especially for late-blooming, non-prospect types. This isn't just an MLB thing too. I tracked the hell out of both these guys in the minors and this was a clear pattern for both of them whenever they advanced a level. They'd struggle hard for the first 100-200 PA, often times being demoted back or starting the season a level below where they finished. They'd rake, get promoted, and with those first 100-200 PA out of the way already, would keep on hitting. 

We've seen Walsh follow that exact pattern in the bigs, to the point where he made an All-Star team and displaced a $30m HOFer. And while it doesn't prove Rojas is the next to succeed, nor is it a particularly unusual pattern for a minor league hitter, he has shown enough there (especially with his strong spring showing) to have at least a bit of hope that there's an above-average MLB bat there. Rojas hit like an average, maybe slightly above-average, hitter in the second half of his MLB career so far. That's worth exploring. There's decent discipline, decent contact, and solid pop there. Taylor Ward is another example, just with far more PAs on each side of the totally sucking to totally being alright spectrum.

Ya I guess.