Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani Honoring Miguel Rojas in Touching Way After Death of Father

Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani, who's both pitching and hitting in Wednesday's series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays, is honoring Miguel Rojas with a touching tribute.

Ohtani has the initials "MR" written on his hat for the game. This comes after Rojas announced that his father, Miguel Rojas Sr., tragically passed away on Tuesday after suffering a heart attack.

Shohei Ohtani is honoring Miguel Rojas with the initials "MR" on his hat today.💙💙💙

Miguel Rojas Sr. died unexpectedly on Tuesday after suffering a heart attack.pic.twitter.com/4lXq4o61GY
— Dodgers On SI (@DodgersOnSI) April 8, 2026

“With immense sorrow on behalf of the entire Rojas family, I must inform everyone who had the privilege of knowing and spending time with my father, Miguel Rojas — known as “Micky” — that he passed away suddenly yesterday, April 7th, in the afternoon,” Rojas wrote in Spanish on Instagram.

“I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has reached out to me and my family to offer their love and let us know just how deeply cherished my father was throughout his life. May God welcome him into His glory, and may he rest in peace.”

Rojas is in the lineup on Wednesday, batting ninth and playing shortstop. He requested to play despite the difficult circumstances.

"I wanted to play yesterday, but Freddie [Freeman] and Doc [Dave Roberts] took it out of my hands, because they knew it was gonna be difficult to stay in the game and have my head there," Rojas said to reporters on Wednesday.

"I always say, [my parents] raised me up and they give up everything in their life for me to be a baseball player."

"This is what they want me to do," Rojas added. "They know how much pride I take in showing up every day, and not letting my teammates down."

Roberts, of course, was ready to put Rojas back in the lineup on Wednesday, per his request.

“I had a conversation with him last night and he said he really wanted to be in there,” Roberts said on Wednesday. “For him to feel like he can go out there and play in a big league ball game, whether it's a distraction, doing it in honor of his father, whatever reason, I heard that. And I felt it was important to get him in there tonight.”

Rojas is playing behind Ohtani, who's making his second pitching start of the season. Ohtani dominated the Cleveland Guardians in his 2026 pitching debut last week, allowing just one hit across six shutout innings with six strikeouts.