Originally published by DodgerBlue.com
When the Los Angeles Dodgers reunited with Miguel Rojas prior to the 2023 season, they lauded his defensive ability and strong presence in the clubhouse as a veteran leader.
Rojas wound up being pressed into a starting role at shortstop because Gavin Lux tore the ACL and LCL in his right knee during Spring Training. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts regularly spoke highly of Rojas’ ability to handle the starting shortstop job and for being an extension of him in the clubhouse.
However, during a recent podcast appearance, Jazz Chisholm Jr. was critical of Rojas during their time together as Miami Marlins teammates.
When asked about the matter on “The Chris Rose Rotation” Rojas explained to Chris Rose the only issue he took with Chisholm’s comments were the personal attacks that extend beyond baseball:
“I don’t care about the comments from one person or people have of me. Everybody is entitled to have their own opinion of you as a player, as a teammate, as a leader. Whatever you want to say about me as a player, and the Miguel Rojas wearing a uniform that he was with the Marlins, or trying to be a leader in the clubhouse, you can have that opinion.
“But you saying that I’m a bad person, when you don’t even know me, you don’t even know where I come from and you’re not even part of what’s close to me or had the opportunity to sit down with me and get to know me as a person, that’s kind of what bothers me. And what bothers me is family asking me what’s going and asking me what made him have that opinion of me, other than in baseball.
“You can think that I suck at baseball, that I’m not a good player, that I’m not a good leader. But when you cross a line and say I’m not a good person and I’m there just because, I guess his thinking is I’m telling someone I’m supposed to be there and please keep me there so I can be a Major League baseball player for 10 years, that’s what bothers me.”
Rojas added he is not interested in speaking with Chisholm to clear the air due to believing a perception has already been formed:
“No, I’m not. Because as soon as you have the assumption of me and the person that I am, I’m not up to having a person in my life that thinks I’m a bad person or a piece of [expletive].”
Among other complaints and talking points, Chisholm accused Rojas of not waking him up from a nap when a meeting was beginning. Chisholm also believed veterans on the Marlins roster at the time were not welcoming to the rookies.
While the Dodgers roster in Rojas’ second stint with the team has been much more established, there has not been any indication of the 35-year-old rubbing teammates the wrong way.
Conversely, Max Muncy specifically highlighted Rojas for encouraging the team to celebrate their wins last season with a toast.
Miguel Rojas helped welcome Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto
When Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto were in the early stages of their first Spring Training with the Dodgers, Rojas gifted a bottle of wine to both of them as a welcoming to the new team.
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