{"id":500097,"date":"2026-03-02T23:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T23:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/500097\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T23:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T23:28:09","slug":"chicago-cubs-prospect-jefferson-rojas-shows-off-elite-bat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/500097\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs prospect Jefferson Rojas shows off elite bat"},"content":{"rendered":"

MESA, Ariz. \u2014 Twenty minutes before squaring off in live batting practice last week, Chicago Cubs right-hander Cade Horton had a message for prospect Jefferson Rojas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Go easy on me this time.<\/p>\n

Horton\u2019s message became prophetic. Rojas, the Cubs\u2019 No. 3 prospect according to Baseball America, homered off the National League rookie of the year runner-up in live BP that day \u2014 an all-too-familiar sight for Horton.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe owns me,\u201d Horton said with a grin. \u201cI think I\u2019ve faced him seven times probably and he\u2019s taken me deep three times, one on a fastball, one on a sinker and one on a slider, so, yeah, I wanted him to go easy on me and obviously he didn\u2019t. Second live BP he took me deep twice.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike, all right, dude, we get it, you\u2019re a good hitter,\u201d Horton joked. \u201cHe\u2019s a great player. I never got the chance to play with him, but just seeing what he does, the way he works, it\u2019s impressive for a 20-year-old kid. I\u2019m really excited to watch his future and see how that plays out for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rojas\u2019 performance this spring has made him a standout in camp. An advanced hitter who reached Double A for the first time last year, being part of big-league camp<\/a> and rising through the farm system has an arrival to the majors in the shortstop\u2019s path.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Cubs shortstop Jefferson Rojas hits a sacrifice RBI during the fourth inning against the Texas Rangers in a Cactus League game at Sloan Park on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely feels closer getting to practice with players that play out there,\u201d Rojas said through an interpreter.<\/p>\n

Rojas\u2019 hit tool is one of his best attributes. He is getting plenty of opportunities this spring for regular at-bats in Cactus League games and has taken advantage of those chances. Rojas made a couple of tweaks in the offseason, adjusting his posture to stand more upright and separating his hands more. In nine spring games through Monday, Rojas, who turns 21 in April, is 6-for-18 (.333) with one home run, three doubles, .400 on-base percentage and 1.067 OPS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s obviously a lot of eyes on him, and for him to stay calm and stay steady and perform in spring and show us real development is really impressive,\u201d director of player development Jason Kanzler told the Tribune. \u201cObviously, the more exposure he has to the highest levels of competition, the more familiar and calibrated he is with the end goal of what he needs to do in his development journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to rely on him at some point in the future so it\u2019s really great that he\u2019s going to get to spend so much more time with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most encouraging parts of Rojas\u2019 journey is the damage he\u2019s doing offensively, predominantly against pitchers older than him. Since signing with the Cubs as an amateur free agent from the Dominican Republic in 2022, Rojas has recorded only six of 1,368 minor-league plate appearances against a pitcher younger than him. Five of those came last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal for that would be at the end of the year he\u2019s ready to play in the major leagues, I think that\u2019s how we would see it,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said. \u201cHe\u2019s 20, so that\u2019s an ambitious goal right there, but he\u2019s having a great camp, and the way he\u2019s kind of matured in the batter\u2019s box over the last two years, getting spring training looks from him is really fun to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

The small diamond-encrusted goat pendant around his neck glitters in the Arizona sun as Rojas goes through his pregame batting practice. Gifted to him by his brother, Rojas always carries it with him. One day he hopes he\u2019s wearing it when he steps onto the field at Wrigley for the first time as a big-leaguer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf God gives me the opportunity to be there, that would be incredible,\u201d Rojas said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MESA, Ariz. \u2014 Twenty minutes before squaring off in live batting practice last week, Chicago Cubs right-hander Cade…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[208941,89733,479,47319,228159,228160,228158,363,2008,215790,99,63077],"class_list":{"0":"post-500097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-cactus-league","9":"tag-cade-horton","10":"tag-chicago-cubs","11":"tag-craig-counsell","12":"tag-cubs-prospects","13":"tag-jason-kanzler","14":"tag-jefferson-rojas","15":"tag-mlb","16":"tag-mlb-baseball","17":"tag-sloan-park","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-spring-training"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}