Rojas heads Phillies' plans in center as Marsh heads to IL 

PHILADELPHIA -- When Cristian Pache landed on the injured list in mid-July, the Phillies turned to 22-year-old Johan Rojas to pick up the slack.

The plan, at the time, was simple: Rojas would simply fill Pache's role as the fourth outfielder.

That meant starting in center field against southpaws in place of the left-handed-hitting Brandon Marsh -- who was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left knee contusion prior to Sunday's 8-4 win over the Royals at Citizens Bank Park -- while also providing a late-game option as either a pinch-runner or defensive replacement.

And given the timing, it also provided a 2 1/2-week window ahead of the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline for the Phillies to showcase Rojas' skillset as a potential trade chip.

Rojas, however, played well enough out of the gate that he not only earned some starts against right-handers, but he convinced the Phillies that it was best to focus their Deadline improvements elsewhere.

Now, Rojas will be the club's everyday center fielder for the time being.

Marsh entered the clubhouse on crutches Sunday morning after crashing hard into the center-field wall in the fifth inning of Saturday's game. The club is optimistic he won't miss more than a few weeks after X-rays and an MRI came back clean.

"Probably two, three weeks," manager Rob Thomson said Sunday morning. "If it's sooner than that, great."

In the meantime, Rojas will get the majority of playing time in center field.

“First and foremost, I have to give thanks to God for giving me the opportunity to play in the big leagues,” Rojas said through interpreter Diego Ettedgui. “That has been a dream of mine since I was a kid. It’s been fun.”

While the Phillies’ No. 5 prospect will be expected to fill the void defensively, it will take a collective effort to offset Marsh’s absence on the offensive side.

After all, Marsh leads all qualified Phillies hitters in both on-base percentage (.369) and slugging percentage (.463). Though he cooled off in May following a blistering start, Marsh had once again been locked in at the plate since mid-June. Over his past 35 games before landing on the IL, he hit .346 with 15 extra-base hits, 17 RBIs and a .987 OPS.

"Obviously, it's a loss. He's one of our better hitters," Thomson said. "But the other guys have to pick it up. If the other guys hit like they're supposed to hit, we shouldn't miss a beat."

That was certainly the case on Sunday, when every Phillies starter except Edmundo Sosa notched at least one hit. Kyle Schwarber hit his team-leading 28th home run. Nick Castellanos hit his third homer in the past five games. Bryson Stott hit his first career opposite-field shot.

On the defensive side, Jake Cave and Weston Wilson -- who had his contract selected from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Marsh's roster spot -- are also capable of patrolling center.

While there was never a question about Rojas’ defensive capabilities, his offense has been a pleasant surprise. With two hits on Sunday, he’s batting .326 with three doubles, eight RBIs and four stolen bases in his first 17 career games.

Entering Sunday, Rojas had also accounted for three Defensive Runs Saved in just 108 innings in center field. To put that in perspective, only 10 center fielders have more DRS this season -- and each has played at least 200 innings in center.

“[Marsh] brings a lot to the team. He's like a brother to me,” Rojas said. “He can contribute in many different ways. So hopefully he's back in no time. In the meantime, I'm going to take advantage of the moment and do my best to cover him.”

Albeit an extremely limited sample, the right-handed-hitting Rojas has more than done his part against left-handed pitchers. He entered Sunday hitting .368 (7-for-19) with a pair of doubles and an .842 OPS in those spots.

But against righties, Rojas was hitting just .238 (5-for-21) with one double and a .590 OPS.

With Marsh out for at least a couple of weeks, Rojas should get plenty of chances to improve on those numbers. Though Pache (right elbow inflammation) could begin a rehab assignment this week, he was used almost exclusively against lefties before landing on the IL. Pache hit .405 with a 1.135 OPS against southpaws while going just 1-for-12 (.083) in his limited opportunities vs. righties.

Meanwhile, Thomson will likely deploy a platoon in left field. The left-handed-hitting Cave will start against right-handers and the right-handed-hitting Wilson will start against lefties, with Schwarber also starting in left -- as he did on Sunday -- when he's not serving as the designated hitter.

“He’s been doing such a fantastic job throughout the whole season, so having him hit the IL is obviously not ideal,” Schwarber said. “We’re going to miss him for however many days that is, but … the beautiful thing about our lineup is we’ve got really talented players throughout the whole lineup.”