#miguel-rojas

#miguel-rojas

The primary reason the Nationals should look to sign Rojas is his premium defense. For almost his entire career, Rojas has been a premium defender at shortstop and second base. This past season, Rojas' outs above average ranked in the 91st percentile of all qualified players. While defensive statistics like outs above average can fluctuate from season to season for many players, Rojas has consistently been an elite performer in this metric. He has ranked around the 90th percentile since 2021.

His game-tying homer in the ninth inning allowed the Dodgers to get to extra innings where eventually the team pulled out the tough 5-4 victory. Caught with an in-between play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, an off-balance Rojas fired a strike from second base to catcher Will Smith at home to barely clip Toronto Blue Jays runner Isiah Kiner-Falefa on a force play. The Dodgers got out of that inning eventually, and the rest is history.

Miguel Rojas was in the running for a first career Gold Glove Award, but he was bested by Javier Sanoja of the Miami Marlins. Sanoja is among the group of first-time Gold Glove winners in 2025. Sanoja is the Marlins' first Gold Glove winner since Marcel Ozuna in 2017. He played every position this season except for catcher and right field.

The biggest play was the last one. With one out in the ninth and Toronto's Addison Barger at second base, representing the tying run, Andrés Giménez sliced a broken-ball liner to left field. The Dodgers' Kiké Hernández got a great jump on the ball and made a running catch, followed by a poor throw to second in an attempt to double off Barger. The ball took a tricky hop but Rojas stuck with it, catching the ball behind his left knee and hanging on as the retreating Barger knocked him to the ground. Rojas rolled on his back and pumped him right arm three times in celebration.