When the Arizona Diamondbacks took the field on Friday afternoon, infielder Josh Rojas was hitting .250/.367/.250 in 49 plate appearances, with no home runs and three RBI.
Before the game is over, we can now say that Rojas is hitting .295/.396/.500 with three homers and seven RBI.
Wait, what?
Yes: he hit three home runs at Wrigley Field today.
Here is a video of his third blast:
Third home run of the day for Josh Rojas 🤯
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/s4JwawqwxO
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) May 20, 2022
We knew Rojas had some power, but it was hard to imagine him turning into Barry Bonds for a day.
Last season, he had a full slate of at-bats, with 550 plate appearances in 139 games.
He hit 11 home runs in 2021: not a lot, but a respectable number.
Today’s display, therefore, is very surprising.
The D-Backs, who have been surprisingly decent in 2022 (19-21 record before today’s game), surely won’t complain.
Can He Develop More Power?
Ever since he came from the Houston Astros via trade in 2019, the D-Backs knew he was a toolsy player with some versatility to play all over the infield.
Those tools were mostly speed and some modest pop.
If he can develop into the player Arizona dreamed he would become two years ago, the Diamondbacks would have another building piece.
Rojas, however, will soon be 28, so seeing him turn into a huge power threat is unlikely.
It’s not impossible, though: we have seen many late-bloomers implement a swing change and unlocking enormous game-power.
For now, Arizona is just enjoying Rojas’ great day at the dish.
It was good enough to keep an eye on him and watch how he fares in the next few weeks.
Even if he fails to develop new skills, he can now say he homered three times in the same MLB game.
That’s very cool.
NEXT: Diamondbacks Making Progress Towards Relevance In 2022