NL DIVISION SERIES: PHILLIES VS BRAVES

October 9, 2023

Johan Rojas

Truist Park

Philadelphia Phillies

Pregame 2 Press Conference

Q. Johan, have you been able to reflect on kind of how crazy your season has been that you got called up from double A and now you're starting in a playoff game?

JOHAN ROJAS: Well, first and foremost, I would like to thank God and the Phillies for the opportunity. This is huge for me. Everyone has been very welcoming. From the first day I got to the clubhouse, everyone welcomed me with open arms. It's been a really good vibe from the beginning, and I'm very happy here. I can't lie about that. I'm very, very happy here, and just feels like a family to me.

Q. Johan, when you were a kid, did you ever dream about playing a postseason game like this one? Can you talk about like what that dream was like?

JOHAN ROJAS: Yeah, my goal as a kid was always to make it to the Big Leagues. Even when I played PlayStation, I would put myself in the game and be like, one day I'm going to be there. And honestly it's a dream come true for me to be here.

Q. If you could speak to the impact your defense has and maybe the confidence the pitchers have behind you and also your other outfielders.

JOHAN ROJAS: Honestly, I help my team win, and I love helping my team win. As you know, this is a great, great team. We have a winning team here, winning culture. The support that I've been receiving from day one from my teammates has been awesome. I can tell you that I hate losing, so I'm going to try my hardest to help the pitcher and my teammates out to win games because at the end of the day, that's what it's all about, to win games.

Q. What team were you playing as in video games, and who was your favorite player?

JOHAN ROJAS: So I would play with my siblings, PlayStation. Someone I really, really liked playing with was Albert Pujols. He's always been an inspiration to me, and honestly the whole country, and my whole family, my whole country because the achievements that he has made in his career are unbelievable.

Q. Just to follow up on the PlayStation questions, when you did play, did you create a player, and did you turn up the defense to 99?

JOHAN ROJAS: Yes. Yes. I actually created my own character multiple times. And so I would always put me as an outfielder, mostly as a center fielder, and I would make sure every single time that the speed, the defense, the contact and the power were always 99.

Q. Do you feel the game speeding up in the postseason or be any bigger and do you have to remind yourself to sort of relax each at-bat when you're on the defensive side?

JOHAN ROJAS: I always go out there to help my team win, regardless of what type of game or situation may be. I can tell you that I enjoy playing with a lot of fans in the stadium.

The Philly fans do a really good job at making the environment electric, and they bring a lot of energy, a lot of passion to the game, and we feed off of that. From the first pitch, you can see that the atmosphere in the stadium is electric at Citizens Bank Park, and it's all due to the fans.

Q. Johan, Rob talks about all the time how he trusts you a lot against right-handed velocity. Specifically, was there any adjustments that you made either in the minor leagues or in the majors that have led you to improve in that area?

JOHAN ROJAS: I love giving my 100 percent every single time I'm out there. 100 percent effort, you're going to see out of me every single time I am out on the field.

I know that this is a game of adjustments, and I love making adjustments. I really work with our hitting coach in the minor leagues, Tyler Hanson. And he helped me with my approach, little things that I would have to tweak here and there.

And I owe him big time for that. And, again, I am all about winning. I hate losing. And maybe it's because I have a lot of energy, and I need to release that energy on the field, and I feel that by winning, I release the energy. So again, I'm a winning player, and I just want to help this team win.

Q. Is there a specific center fielder you modeled yourself after defensively?

JOHAN ROJAS: So my favorite player is, actually, Ronald Acuña, you know, before he was a center fielder. Now he's a right fielder. But I love the way he plays. He plays hard. He plays to win. That's why he's my favorite player.