Apr 16, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Johan Rojas (23) fields a fly ball against the San Francisco Giants in the second inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
Between Aaron Nola and at least half of their bullpen, the Phillies have plenty of pitching questions right now. But the glaring weakness on Rob Thomson's squad early in 2025 has been center field.
Whatever momentum it felt like there may have been after Brandon Marsh delivered a sacrifice fly last night was lost Wednesday after he and Johan Rojas combined to play a brutal game in center field.
With the left-handed Robbie Ray on the mound for the San Francisco Giants, Rojas got the start in center field Wednesday. Rojas smoked a double into left field in the fourth inning, which in theory should have made it quite the game for the 24-year-old:
That double from Johan Rojas was 112.4 mph off the bat, the hardest hit of his entire career.
But Rojas looked overmatched in his first at-bat of the game, striking out looking in the bottom of the second inning. He also made an errant throw home when Matt Chapman singled in the top of the fifth inning. Jung Hoo Lee was stopping at third base, but Rojas' throw ended up out of play, allowing Lee to go home and Chapman to advance all the way to third base.
"He came up trying to hit the cutoff man, it just, the ball got away from him a bit," Thomson said after the game. "I'm not sure if he knew the guy was halfway. But he's gotta be a little bit more under control and make sure he hits the cutoff."
The Giants take the lead on an airmailed throw 😅 pic.twitter.com/HS0ZHEkbHB
Marsh pinch hit for Rojas to lead off the top of the sixth, and struck out on seven pitches, extending his hitless streak to 31 at-bats.
Then in the top of the seventh inning, Wilmer Flores singled into center field. It appeared Marsh would have a chance to keep Heliot Ramos at third base or have a play at the plate if he fielded it cleanly. Instead, the ball took a pretty wicked hop, Marsh had to stumble just to stay in front of it and Ramos scored during what turned into a four-run inning for the Giants:
The MLB RBI leader has 'em stumbling out there 😎 pic.twitter.com/11ACkKNZr6
In fairness to Marsh, as much as his stumble felt like a case of it pouring when it rains, the hop that the ball took when it hit the grass wasn't predictable. He also did put a decent swing on a ball in the bottom of the eighth, but the wind knocked it down in left-center field. Perhaps on a warmer day with normal wind patterns it would have flown further.
But the reality is that Marsh has now gone 32 at-bats without a hit. Rojas doesn't have a track record of hitting consistently. Justin Crawford may be a solution at some point later this year, but the 21-year-old has just a .632 OPS over his first 64 at-bats at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Center field is — as it's been for most of the last decade for the Phillies — a major hole right now.
