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2016 Stats: 214 PA, 1 HR, 14 RBI, .247 AVG, .613 OPS, 62 wRC+, 0.1 WAR
After coming over in a trade with the Dodgers in December of 2014, Miguel Rojas spent most of his 2015 season with the Marlins as a bench player. He appeared in only 60 games, but made the most of chances at the plate and in the field.
His 2015 production in limited playing time earned Rojas more plate appearances and more time in the field in 2016. He appeared in 123 games for the Marlins last season and hit a respectable .247 with 14 RBI and 27 runs scored.
Rojas had an okay season at the plate for Miami, but his real value in 2016 came on defense. He appeared in at least 15 games at all four infield positions and was a plus defender at all of them.
The 27-year-old infielder made his most appearances at second base, which included 14 starts at the position, and many of those appearances came during Dee Gordon’s 80-game suspension. Derek Dietrich started most of the games there for his offensive abilities, but Rojas would come in late in games for his defense.
Although Rojas made his largest number of appearances at second base, he made the most starts and accumulated the most innings at shortstop. The career .976 fielder took advantage of the 26 starts that were given to him at shortstop because of Adeiny Hechavarria’s struggles at the plate.
Rojas was also surprisingly valuable at first base -- a position he had never played until this past season. Don Mattingly used a platoon of guys at first base last season, during and after the injury to Justin Bour, but none of them were particularly successful on defense.
Mattingly decided to use Rojas as a defensive replacement at the end of games at first base as well, and he proved his value at a position he had never played before at the major league level.
The advanced metrics show that Rojas was really only an average to above-fielder at every position in 2016, put his ability to play any position and do some damage with the bat as well makes him an important piece for the Marlins going forward.