Philadelphia Phillies Star Rookie Wins Prestigious Award

The Philadelphia Phillies got a jolt of energy when they called up one of their top prospects to the MLB roster back on July 15.

Johan Rojas was the organizations' No. 5 prospect coming into the season according to Baseball America and was scheduled to make his MLB debut at some point during the 2023 season.

Injuries to their outfielders forced the Phillies to call-up the 23-year-old until others got healthy.

Rojas played his way onto the roster in Philadelphia even as those players returned from their injuries.

The center fielder has been presented with the prestigious Paul Owens Award that is given to the Phillies' top minor league player.

At the time of his call-up, Rojas had a slash line of .306/.361/.484 with nine home runs, 45 RBI and 30 stolen bases at the Double-A level. He was leading the Eastern League in hits (98), triples (5) and runs (56), while also sitting second in steals, and third in extra base-hits and total bases.

The star rookie has continued his production at the Major League level.

Since being called up, he is hitting .301/.344/.439 with two home runs, 21 RBI and 13 stolen bases.

What's really forced manager Rob Thomson to keep Rojas on the roster is his incredible defense.

In his first 50 starts for Philadelphia, he accounted for 14 defensive runs saved, ranking 14th in the MLB.

During August, he led all Major League players with 11 defensive runs saved.

"Johan is in the middle of an outstanding season. From the first day of spring training, it was evident that Johan was motivated to show he could impact our major league team. We’re proud of his commitment to preparation and his daily improvement plans. We think Johan is just scratching the surface, and with continued development, will play in Philadelphia for years to come," Preston Mattingly, Phillies director of player development said in a press release about the Paul Owens Award.

The rookie continues to impress on the Major League stage and will be a big part of the team during the postseason.