JUST IN: Phillies’ Manager Rob Thomson reveals of his new strategies and plans for Rojas after Winter Meetings on Tuesday as he reveals key positional changes

On Tuesday afternoon, Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson held his Winter Meetings press conference. The Phillies’ center field quandary and Johan Rojas’ position in the pecking order for next season are the first topics on the agenda.

Since the start of the offseason, the Phillies’ outfield situation has been a source of consternation, with every expert, analyst, and insider speculating on how the front office will shape the outfield.

So, a day after president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski stated that the team is “content” with their outfield situation, media members had the opportunity to ask Thomson about Rojas and the team’s plans for next season.

“I think his at-bats were really good in the regular season,” Thomson said when asked what gives him confidence in Rojas’ offensive potential. “I believe he hit over.300.” But that wasn’t all. It was the way he worked the count and used the field.”

“I know the postseason numbers weren’t very good,” he admitted, addressing the elephant in the room. “However, looking at the at-bats, they were better than the numbers.” I believe this kid has potential. We’re not going to give him the center field spot, as Dave [Dombrowski] stated yesterday. We’ll see what happens in Spring Training, but I have a soft spot for this kid.”

Thomson made a point of emphasizing that last point. The manager has complete faith in the 23-year-old defensive wizard, who hit over.300 in 59 regular-season games —.302, to be exact. He held his own after making his debut in mid-July, posting a better-than-league-average.771 OPS and a 111 OPS+.

Rojas must demonstrate to the Phillies that he is ready for the daily grind.
According to Thomson, Rojas is back in the weight room and batting cage this offseason, as the team preferred that approach over sending the youngster down for Winter League at-bats.

What does Topper need to see from Rojas during Spring Training in order to hire him?

“I think getting back to his regular season at-bats where he’s using the field, swinging at strikes, not chasing,” he said.

The reason there are so many questions about Rojas is his performance at the end of the season. He emerged from the postseason with a 4-for-43 batting average and a 33.3 percent strikeout rate.

“It’s all about pitch selection and not chasing, understanding what his strengths are and staying with those and attacking his strengths,” Thomson explained when asked what Rojas is working on specifically. “There’s probably a little bit of swing mechanic stuff going on.” We really want him to use the field and bring the strike zone back in over the plate. He’s going to be fine if he does that.”

Thomson also compared his young center fielder to Brett Gardner, who was drafted by the New York Yankees while the Phillies’ manager was a bench coach for the Bronx Bombers.

“When Gardy first came up, we moved Johnny Damon to left field and Gardy took over center field … we hit him ninth and just let him go,” Thomson told reporters. “I believe we have other options in our case, with Marsh, Pache, and Cave.” So we want to do what’s best for Johan, and if that means sending him to Triple-A and giving him as many at-bats as he needs, we’ll do it.”

What is the Phillies’ backup plan?
Dombrowski has stated repeatedly that the Phillies will not go out of their way to make a move just to make a move. They will accept anything that will help them improve. At the moment, they’re counting on Rojas to take that step in the spring and fill the everyday center role.

But what if he doesn’t land the center field job after Spring Training? Thomson and the Phillies appear to be fine with Brandon Marsh taking the job to begin the season. The only problem is that he only got 96 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers in 2023, and he hit.229 with a.717 OPS.

There was no opposition from the right. He batted.292 with a.862 OPS and a 133 wRC+. With his drastically contrasting performances, he effectively pigeonholed himself as a platoon split player.

Thomson believes Marsh will be his starting centerfielder in 2024 if Rojas is forced to start the season in Lehigh Valley.

When asked how often Marsh would play center field in that scenario, Thomson said, “I think every day to begin with.” “Because I believe he’ll be able to hit left-handed pitching, and I believe that’s something [hitting coach Kevin Long] will focus on in Spring Training and prior to Spring Training.” Marsh has my complete trust.”

So that’s the end of it. Rojas has his manager’s support, but it will be up to him to earn the job in Florida. And the team is content to delegate authority to Marsh as a backup plan.

Now, we’ll see if the Phillies have any opportunities to upgrade their outfield between now and February.