For the last two years, a mystery has surrounded the Philadelphia Phillies.
Nobody has been able to solve it. To paraphrase Joe Pesci in “JFK,” it’s a puzzle wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma.
Why is Johan Rojas on the team?
“He’s a great defender,” manager Rob Thomson said after Tuesday’s game, in which Rojas flubbed two plays in center field. “I’m not concerned.”
Rojas is terrible. Despite his home run on Tuesday night — his first since last July — he’s a lousy hitter. He doesn’t take smart approaches at the plate, he can’t bunt, and he’s a low-IQ baserunner.
And why was Kody Clemens traded, by the way? The lefty batter, who has Pete Rose-like versatility at every position and has actually contributed in the batter’s box at the major league level, would have been a perfect pinch-hitter for Rojas against righty Kyle Finnegan in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday against Washington.
Except he was sent to the Minnesota Twins a few days ago.
Not that you would have been able to trust Thomson to use him anyway.
“It’s too bad we couldn’t have given him more of an opportunity here,” Thomson said of Clemens. “It was just the fit, because he’s a good player, he’s a big-league player, and I’ve said that all along. He’s a great teammate. He’s a great human being.”
The fit?
Clemens fit everywhere.
He may not have been a future Hall of Famer, but he came up big in some big moments. Was this about “the fit” or about general manager Dave Dombrowski not wanting Thomson to use him, because Clemens didn’t “fit” into Dombrowski’s analytics chart?
Or was it Thomson’s decision not to use him?
It really seems like a GM mandate, considering that the Phillies didn’t put Clemens on the big club until this spring, despite him proving his worth for two previous seasons, and considering that Dombrowski just traded him away a few days ago for cash and a sack of beans.
What is going on?
Why did the Phillies trade Kody Clemens while retaining Johan Rojas?
It gives me no pleasure to rip into Rojas. He’s still young and he may be a great major leaguer someday. I’m rooting for him. But that day isn’t today.
Why not let him spend another year or so in Triple A, where he can play every day and hone his skills?
And who started the narrative that Rojas is a great fielder, as if he’s Willie Mays out there? He screwed up in the NLCS against Arizona two years ago, and that was just one of many screwups.
He certainly has shown flashes of brilliance with some incredible plays, but a few flashes shouldn’t equal a permanent roster spot.
Dombrowski has failed to address center field. And the Phillies have muddled along.
“The truth be told, I thought we stole one last night,” Thomson said Wednesday of the previous night’s 7-6 win. “Last night was a little bit sloppy, something we need to clean up, especially our defense. We’re working on it right now.”
Mmmkay.
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Christiaan DeFranco covers the Phillies, Eagles and other sports for MediaNews Group/Tribune Publishing. Email him at cdefranco@thereporteronline.com. Follow him on X at @the_defranc.
