Diamondbacks infielder Josh Rojas has been placed on Triple-A Reno's 7-day injured List as of July 4th with lumbar spine inflammation. A Diamondbacks spokesperson said his status was still pending evaluations to determine duration
It is another setback for Rojas who had been optioned to Reno June 19th due to a lengthy slump this season. After posting two solid years of slightly above league average production at the plate in 2021 and 2022 (.746 oPS, 107 OPS+ combined) Rojas was faced with being placed in a platoon with Evan Longoria at third base for the 2023 season.
Rojas got off to a scorching start this year tallying three hits in four of his first nine games. While he cooled off. he was still batting .287 with a .326 OBP by the end of April, but hadn't homered and was slugging just .379. Then the slump started in earnest.
Over his next 34 games, 114 PA he hit just .188 with 12 walks and 30 strikeouts and was still looking for his first homer of the year. At that point the team decided to go with the hot hands in Emmanuel Rivera and Evan Longoria and give Rojas time in Triple-A to try to work things out.
It's difficult to judge by the results of seven games, but Rojas was hitting just .207 since being sent down. He did hit his first homer of the year however.
The Millennium High School, Goodyear Arizona graduate is popular among fans, teammates and media. During the disastrous 2021 season he was always willing to face to the media and be a spokesperson for the locker room even when some more tenured players were less willing to talk. Recently he handled not one but two position player pitching assignments with his trademark good humor. Hopefully Rojas will recover quickly and find his way back to he majors through improved performance. .
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