City DisConnect: Phillies have a Johan Rojas problem. Why sending him to minors won’t help

PHILADELPHIA − There's no truth to the rumor that Johan Rojas designed the Phillies' multi-shade blue "City Connect" uniforms, or caused pitcher Cristopher Sanchez to commit two errors and walk three batters, or made Trea Turner fall down as he was getting ready to field a routine inning-ending bouncer to shortstop.

Or that Rojas made Yunior Marte's pitch hit catcher J.T. Realmuto's wrist and get past him, allowing a run to score.

Yet that is how the Pirates scored their first three runs Friday night in sending the Phillies to a 5-2 loss.

Rojas, the Phillies’ light-hitting center fielder, sat through all of it because he's not hitting. It was his second straight game on the bench as manager Rob Thomson wanted him to "sit and watch for a minute."

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The Pirates were starting a lefty, former Phillie Bailey Falter, so Thomson felt the Phillies were better off with Brandon Marsh, a left-handed hitter who has never hit lefties, in Rojas' place.

"He doesn’t have much to show for it yet," Thomson said about Marsh against lefties. "But I think we have to keep getting him reps because I think he’s going to be able to hit lefties at some point pretty consistently."

That point isn't here yet.

The Phillies had already scored a run in the eighth inning on a bases-loaded walk to Alec Bohm, cutting the deficit to 5-2. That brought up Marsh against hard-throwing lefty Aroldis Chapman.

Marsh never had a chance. He looked at the first two sliders for strikes, fouled off a 101-mph fastball, took a ball, then watched a slider for strike three.

But it's not just Marsh.

Earlier in that inning, with runners on first and second and one out, Bryce Harper hit a line drive to right field that Bryan Reynolds dove for and caught just before it hit the ground. Harper trudged back dejectedly to the dugout.

"I think whenever you hit a ball like that, or anything, you’re always going to be frustrated if you get out," Harper said. "You guys know how I am; I’m pretty emotional. Just frustrated I got out."

He was then asked if the team was pressing a little bit.

"No. We’re 14 games in, man," he said.

Well, it certainly seems that way. Nick Castellanos, who's hitting .160, struck out to start the ninth and was heartily booed.

"Hitting is hard enough," Castellanos said. "If you’re in a bad mood, and you’re trying to figure it out, your chances are pretty low. But if you start enjoying yourself, having fun, appreciating the people around you, you’re in a better mood."

Then he added this: "Happy people hit better."

It just seems like no one is happy right now. That brings us back to Rojas.

If the 23-year-old defensive whiz isn't playing because he can't hit, then he should be in the minor leagues. Perhaps that would be the case if Marsh could hit lefties. But if Marsh isn't hitting them, then the Phillies are no better off than if they had Rojas in the lineup.

Thomson said Rojas will be back in the lineup Saturday as the Pirates are scheduled to pitch lefty Marco Gonzalez.

Look at it this way: Rojas has played in 11 games this season, hitting .161 with one RBI and a putrid .429 OPS. Marsh, meanwhile, is the Phillies leader this season in homers (four) and RBIs (nine), and he's hitting .326 with an OPS of .976.

All of which would indicate that the 26-year-old Marsh is about to have a breakout season.

Yet against lefties this season, Marsh is hitting .214 with just one RBI and a .538 OPS. That is very Rojas-ian. His OPS against righties is 1.193.

For his career, Marsh has an OPS of .799 against righties and .588 against lefties. That’s why he’s not an everyday player.

In fairness, Marsh did double off Falter in the fifth inning, his first extra-base hit in 16 at-bats against lefties this season. He scored on Bryson Stott's swinging bunt in front of the plate.

But when the Phillies needed Marsh most in the eighth inning against Chapman, he was as overmatched as Rojas has been so far this season.

He's not alone, either. Whit Merrifield, the right-handed bat the Phillies signed as a free agent to spell Marsh against lefties, went 0-for-4 and is hitting .120 this season. That, too, is Rojas-ian. And Merrifield is not nearly as good as a fielder as Marsh, let alone Rojas.

So it was a bad omen when the Phillies handed the Pirates their first three runs.

"Any time you play a game like that, you’re probably not going to win," Harper said. "You’ve got to battle to the end, like we did. But when you start a game like that, it’s really tough to kind of come back."

So it's not just Rojas. Or Marsh, Merrifield, or Castellanos. In one game against the Reds last Tuesday, Harper had three home runs and six RBIs. Harper has just one RBI in the other 12 games he has played in. He was in an 0-for-18 slump before getting two hits Friday.

The Phillies' plan was always that they had enough good hitters where they could get by with Rojas scuffling from the No. 9 spot in the order.

But when several others are scuffling, too, then Rojas' lack of offense stands out. Sort of like the multi-shaded blue City Connect uniforms.

Whether you like the uniforms or not, the Phillies will be wearing them at every Friday home game, including next Friday against the White Sox. Whether Rojas will be wearing his next Friday could depend on the other players breaking out of their slumps more so than Rojas breaking out of his.

"Hopefully, next week we’ll get a win in them," Harper said about the uniforms. "I just want to win. I don’t care what we wear."

Or who wears them.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Phillies have a Johan Rojas problem as Pirates shut down offense