Philadelphia Phillies' Electric Rookie Ready For Center Stage

The Philadelphia Phillies were dealt a huge blow when their everyday outfielder Brandon Marsh was put on the IL following a knee injury.

He's been one of their best defensive players in center field and has been producing at the plate this season, leading the team in on-base percentage and slugging percentage among all the qualified hitters.

Filling that void will be the responsibility of rookie Johan Rojas who is the Phillies' number five overall prospect.

Rojas was originally called up from Double-A to fill in for the injured Christian Pache to play sparingly against left handed pitching and to pinch run.

However, the rookie outfielder hit the ground running with his limited opportunity and proved that he deserved an every day look in the lineup.

In his 17 games, Rojas is hitting .326/.356/.395 and has provided great defense in center field, saving three defensive runs in 108 innings.

Now, manager Rob Thomson is turning to the rookie as the everyday center fielder with Marsh rehabbing from injury.

"Hopefully he's back in no time," Rojas told MLB.com's Paul Casella. "In the meantime, I'm going to take advantage of the moment and do my best to cover him."

Thomson expects Marsh to miss three weeks maximum with his injury, which should give the 22-year-old rookie plenty of reps in the meantime.

Rojas said, "First and foremost, I have to give thanks to God for giving me the opportunity to play in the big leagues. That has been a dream of mine since I was a kid. It’s been fun."

This is a big opportunity to show the organization that he can be a piece of the future as he steps onto the center stage with major expectations.

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