Mets Prospect Continues His Power Surge In Dominican Republic

New York Mets prospect Jefferson Rojas has been on a tear lately, and it’s not stopping. Rojas hit five home runs in his last 11 games of the season after the Mets acquired him from the Chicago Cubs, and now he’s going more of the same playing for Gigantes Del Cibao in the Dominican Republic. 

According to a report from Rob Terranova of MLB.com, Rojas hit a pair of homers as part of a three-hit game as Cibao beat Tigres del Licey, 7-1, at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal on Saturday night. 

Rojas has also  been on something of a North American tour this season so far. He started at Double-A Knoxville, which is a Cubs affiliate, then switched from the Southern League to the Eastern League with the Mets before finishing his US leg with six games at Triple-A Syracuse.

If you’re looking for a consistent thread, it would be that Rojas hits, no matter where he’s playing. He posted a slash line of  .274/.338/.505 with 57 extra-base hits, -- including a career-high 27 homers -- to go with 93 RBIs, 90 runs scored and 21 stolen bases in 126 games.

Now he’s played a pair games with Cibao, and his stat line so far is 4-for-7 with a pair of homers, four runs, three RBIs, a walk and a stolen base. That’s an OPS of 2.054 if you’re into ridiculously small sample sizes. 

The power surge is making Rojas a marked man for Mets fans, as they desperately need both youth and offense in the infield. They got some offense from third baseman Bo Bichette at thrid, but their double-play combo of Francisco Lindor and Marcus Semien was woeful offensively, with Lindor having a very down year that was marred by injuries and Semien not hitting much at all. 

Rojas’ backstory starts with getting a $1 million from the Cubs when he came out of the Dominican Republic, and he proceeded to charge through the lower levels of Chicago’s minor league sytem. 

The 21-year old prospect has been the youngest player at nearly every level of competition where he’s made his mark, and offensively he certainly looks ready for a shot to stick at Citi Field next year.

The question at this point would be where he plays. The Mets still don’t know what Bichette is going to do about his possible opt-out, and he has until five days after the World Series to decide. All Rojas can do until then is hit, and he’s doing exactly that.