Originally published by DodgerBlue.com
Miguel Rojas and the Los Angeles Dodgers were briefly at the center of a false PED scandal on Monday after an incorrect tweet from Evan Drellich of the Athletic, before he deleted his original post and corrected his report to Johan Rojas of the Philadelphia Phillies.
At 3:00 p.m. PT, Drellich tweeted: “Breaking: Miguel Rojas of the Los Angeles Dodgers has been suspended 80 games for use of a banned substance.” Four minutes later, he posted: “I’ve deleted a post incorrectly identifying who was suspended today. It was Johan Rojas of the Philadelphia Phillies who was suspended.”
The news of Johan’s possible suspension was first reported on March 3, but the 25-year-old filed an appeal through the MLB Players’ Association. An independent arbitrator denied Johan’s appeal and upheld the 80-game suspension on Wednesday.
Miguel spoke publicly about his frustration with the false report, mainly stemming from the Dodgers also being brought into it, as both his and the club’s reputation was falsly besmirched, according to Maddie Lee of the Athletic:
“I’m not frustrated because of the report, because we are all humans and we make mistakes. I was expecting a little bit more of an apology, not just to me, but the organization. Because it wasn’t just my name, it was pretty clear that it says, ‘Miguel Rojas from the Los Angeles Dodgers.’ And I don’t think anybody in this organization should be kind of freaking out and jumping out of their seats for the six or seven minutes that it happened.”
And for that reason, Miguel desired an apology for the organization more so than for himself:
“It wasn’t just my name, it was the organization that I represent too, and that’s really important to me,” he said. “So that’s the only thing that I’m kind of bothered by.”
Drellich made the error on March 16, and issued a public apology two days later: “To Miguel Rojas and the Dodgers, I sincerely and publicly apologize. I’ve reached out to Miguel, the Dodgers and Miguel’s agent to say the same. Once again, I’m sorry.”
Miguel Rojas and Brusdar Graterol celebrate Venezuela’s win 2026 WBC
Team Venezuela captured its first-ever World Baseball Classic title after defeating Team USA, 3-2, in the championship game on Tuesday night.
Rojas watched from afar and celebrated Venezuela’s WBC win with his two children, while Brusdar Graterol congratulated the team in an Instagram post.
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