3 NY Mets CF targets to help fill the gap until Carson Benge is MLB ready

3) Johan Rojas

Johan Rojas immediately made a great first impression in the Major Leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies when he batted .302/.342/.430 with a .335 wOBA, and 108 wRC+, while going 14-for-15 in stolen base attempts through his first 164 plate appearances in 2023. With his elite-level defense and speed, being a slightly above-average hitter made him extremely valuable to the Phillies in 2023, even if it was only for 59 games.

Unfortunately, he’s not been able to recapture that hitting over the last two years. Since the start of 2024, Rojas has only batted .237/.279/.319 with a .262 wOBA and 64 wRC+ over 535 plate appearances. He has only hit four homers with an ISO coming in at a paltry .076. While Rojas has only struck out 20.4% of the time, it’s not enough to offset his paltry 4.9% walk rate.

On the plus side, Rojas has remained an elite base runner and defender. He has gone 37-for-43 when attempting to steal. He was in the 100th percentile of sprint speed in 2024 and the 99th percentile in 2025. That speed has helped him cover plenty of ground in the outfield. He has +22 DRS and +18 OAA for his career. According to Baseball Savant, the 38.2 feet covered in his jump in 2025 was the fourth-best in baseball. He also has one of the best outfield arms in the game, as his throws from the outfield have been above the 90th percentile of arm strength every year of his MLB career.

The Phillies are reportedly open to moving Rojas this offseason, and the Mets could make a swap of struggling former top prospects to strengthen their center field depth. Rojas’ bat may not do much damage, but he does fit the mold of center fielders the Mets like: strong defense and base running. Even after Benge is in the Major Leagues, Rojas can settle into a fourth outfielder role and overtake that role long term from Tyrone Taylor, who hits free agency after 2026.