Miguel Elias Rojas Naidernoff (born February 24, 1989) is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Miguel Rojas
Rojas with the Miami Marlins in 2020
Miami Marlins – No. 11
Infielder
Born: (1989-02-24) February 24, 1989 (age 33) Los Teques, Miranda, Venezuela
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 6, 2014, for the Los Angeles Dodgers
MLB statistics (through 2022 season)
Batting average	.260
Home runs	39
Runs batted in	269
Teams
Los Angeles Dodgers (2014) Miami Marlins (2015–present)

Professional career

Los Angeles Dodgers

Rojas was signed by the Cincinnati Reds organization as an amateur free agent in 2006, and played in their minor league system through 2012, making it as far as the AAA Louisville Bats to end his 2012 season. He joined the Dodgers organization in 2013 and played for the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Class AA Southern League, where he hit .233 in 130 games. In 2014, he received a non-roster invite to Major League spring training, where he was given a chance to compete for the vacant second base job.[1][2] The Dodgers assigned him to the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes to start 2014, where he hit .302 in 51 games.

Rojas was called up to the Majors for the first time by the Dodgers on June 6, 2014,[3] and made his debut as a late inning defensive replacement.[4] His first hit was a single off Matt Belisle of the Colorado Rockies in his first start on June 8, 2014.

Rojas finished the 2014 regular season hitting only .181 with 1 home run and 9 RBIs in 85 games. He frequently took over for Hanley Ramírez at shortstop late in games for defensive purposes. On June 18, he successfully made an extremely difficult defensive play to preserve a no hitter thrown by Clayton Kershaw in the 7th inning.

Miami Marlins

On December 10, 2014, Rojas was traded to the Miami Marlins, along with Dee Gordon and Dan Haren, in exchange for Andrew Heaney, Chris Hatcher, Austin Barnes, and Enrique "Kiké" Hernández.[5] In 2015, Rojas batted .282/.329/.366 with 1 home run and 17 RBI in 142 at-bats across 60 games. This earned Rojas more playing time the next season as he appeared in 123 games, slashing .247/.288/.325 with 1 home run and 14 RBI.[6]

In 2017, Rojas missed 62 games due to a broken thumb, but still appeared in 90 games, hitting for a .290.361/.375 batting line with 1 home run and 26 RBI in 272 at-bats. Rojas also led all NL shortstops in September and October with a .354 batting average and .948 OPS.[7] In 2018, Rojas set career-highs in nearly every offensive category; games played (153), runs (44), hits (123), home runs (11), RBI (53), and stolen bases (6).[8]

In 2019, Rojas batted .284/.331/.379, with the lowest isolated power in the National League (.095).[9][10] On September 23, 2019, Rojas agreed to a new two-year contract with the Marlins, worth $10.25 million.[11] In late July 2020, Rojas tested positive for COVID-19.[12][13][14] Despite testing positive, Rojas partnered with the company Stadium Custom Kicks during the 2020 season, branding the partnership as Miggy's Locker. The partnership allowed Rojas to design custom-made cleats to express his passion in shoes and basketball.[15] Overall in 2020, Rojas's batting line was all career-highs, with a .304/.392/.496 line on the year to go along with 4 home runs and 20 RBI.[9]

In 2021, Rojas played in 132 games, collecting 131 hits, 48 RBIs, 13 stolen bases, and a career-high 37 walks.[9] On October 28, 2021, the Marlins signed Rojas to a two-year contract extension worth $10 million.[16]

See also

• List of Major League Baseball players from Venezuela

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Miguel Rojas (baseball).

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
• Miguel Rojas on Twitter