Miguel Rojas

Miguel Elias Rojas Naidenoff (born February 24, 1989) is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has also played in MLB for the Miami Marlins. In 2025, he became the first player in MLB history to hit a game-tying home run in the 9th inning or later of a World Series Game 7.

Professional career Cincinnati Reds Minor leagues Rojas was signed by the Cincinnati Reds organization as an amateur free agent in 2006 out of Venezuela and played for their affiliates in the Venezuelan Summer League and Dominican Summer League through 2007. In 2008, the Reds moved him to their domestic affiliate in the rookie-class Pioneer Baseball League, where he hit .183 in 61 games. He spent the 2013 season with the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Double–A Southern League, where he hit .233 in 130 games. The Dodgers assigned him to the Triple–A Albuquerque Isotopes to start 2014, where he hit .302 in 51 games. He made his major league debut that day as a late-inning defensive replacement. His first hit was a single off Matt Belisle of the Colorado Rockies in his first start on June 8.

2015 season Rojas playing for the New Orleans Zephyrs in 2015 In 2015, Rojas batted .282 with one home run and 17 runs batted in across 142 at-bats in 60 games.

2017 season In 2017, Rojas missed 62 games due to a broken thumb, but still appeared in 90 games, hitting for a .290.361/.375 batting line in 272 at-bats with one home run and 26 runs batted in.

2018 season In 2018, Rojas set career-highs in nearly every offensive category; games played (153), runs (44), hits (123), home runs (11), runs batted in (53), and stolen bases (6).

2019 season In 2019, Rojas batted .284/.331/.379, with the lowest isolated power in the National League (.095). On September 23, 2019, Rojas agreed to a new two-year contract with the Marlins, worth $10.25 million.

2020 season

In late July 2020, Rojas tested positive for COVID-19. Despite testing positive, Rojas partnered with the company Stadium Custom Kicks during the 2020 season, branding the partnership as Miggy's Locker. The partnership allowed Rojas to design custom-made cleats to express his passion in shoes and basketball. Overall in 2020, Rojas's batting line was all career-highs, with a .304/.392/.496 line on the year to go along with four home runs and 20 runs batted in.

2021 season In 2021, Rojas played in 132 games, collecting 131 hits, 48 runs batted in, 13 stolen bases, and a career-high 37 walks.

2022 season On October 3, 2022, it was announced that Rojas would undergo wrist surgery to repair a torn triangular fibrocartilage complex in his right wrist. He underwent an additional procedure in January after another minor issue arose.

Los Angeles Dodgers (second stint) On January 11, 2023, Rojas was traded back to the Dodgers in exchange for Jacob Amaya.

2023 season On February 4, the Dodgers announced a contract extension with Rojas that would pay him $5 million for 2024 and included a $5 million club option for 2025. While initially expected to be a utility player, Rojas wound up the starting shortstop when Gavin Lux went down with a season ending knee injury in spring training. He played in 124 games, batting .236. He went on the injured list at the end of July with right forearm inflammation and returned August 7. He remained in the lineup until tearing his adductor muscle in late September. For the season, Rojas batted .283 in 103 games. He started at shortstop for the Dodgers to begin the 2024 NLDS, and had two hits in eight at-bats over the first three games of the series. Rojas returned to the roster for the 2024 World Series, but only played in Game 2, where he was hitless in three at-bats. After the season, the Dodgers picked up his contract option for the 2025 season.

2025 season: World Series hero Rojas switched his jersey number from 11 to 72, the number he first wore as a rookie with the team, as part of the team's pursuit of Roki Sasaki. He played in 114 games for the Dodgers in 2025 (68 at second base, 23 at third base, and 22 at shortstop) and batted .262 with seven home runs and 27 runs batted in.

In the postseason, Rojas had three hits in five at-bats in the Wild Card Series and was hitless in three at-bats in the NLDS. In Game 6 he made a tough catch at second base to help turn the game-ending double play. In the winner-take-all Game 7, with the Dodgers down by one and only two outs remaining in the top of the ninth inning, Rojas hit a game-tying home run off of Jeff Hoffman. Then, in the bottom of the ninth inning, with one out and the bases loaded, he made a defensive stop at second base on a bouncing ground ball and threw it to home plate for an out, preventing the Toronto Blue Jays from scoring a series-winning run. The Dodgers later won the deciding game in the 11th inning.

Rojas' game-tying home run had a 34.91% Championship Win Probability Added (CWPA), which made it at the time the most impactful single-game-tying home run in the 9th inning or later in World Series history (this was later broken by Will Smith two innings later in the 11th inning).

2026: Final season On December 5, 2025, the Dodgers re-signed Rojas to a one-year, $5.5 million contract. Rojas also announced that 2026 would be his final season as a player and he would remain with the Dodgers in a front office role after the season. On April 20, Rojas recorded his 1,000th career MLB hit, a single off José Quintana of the Colorado Rockies.

International career Rojas has played for Tiburones de La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League during the offseason since 2009, which included playing in the 2012 Caribbean Series.