“Could have executed better” - Dodgers’ Miguel Rojas takes blame for lack of communication with Mookie Betts amid defensive criticism after 5-3 loss 

MLB: St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers - Source: Imagn
Dodgers’ Miguel Rojas takes blame for lack of communication with Mookie Betts amid defensive criticism after 5-3 loss - Source: Imagn

LA Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas has come under fire from fans and analysts alike after he misjudged a routine fly ball. In the third inning, Jordan Walker hit a fly ball off Shohei Ohtani that was near second base.

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Mookie Betts, stationed at shortstop, and Rojas both went for the flyball play. Rojas shrugged off Betts, but eventually couldn't make an easy play as it appeared he was unable to see the ball due to the sun. Nonetheless, the scorers registered it as a hit instead of an error, and eventually Walker came around to score, charging Ohtani with an "earned run."

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That run turned out to be pivotal in the end as the Dodgers lost the game 5-3. After the game, Rojas expressed his disappointment in himself and how he should have handled the flyball.

"I just think, like, for us as a defensive club today, it was kind of poorly. We could’ve executed better on a couple balls," Rojas said via the "Dodgers Bleed Los Podcast" (Timestamp- 2:09 onwards). "Mookie got a ball short. I should’ve told him to throw to me at second base so we could get the lead out, and I feel like that was the game right there. So, they scored the run after.
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"I feel like I could’ve done a better job communicating with Mookie, maybe, uh, to tell him that the sun was in my eyes in the first inning, and then, uh, in that play right there, to tell him that I was going to be able to get to second base," he added.
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Rojas believes such mistakes will only help them communicate better in the coming games, but it doesn't take the fact that they lost the game because of that.

Miguel Rojas was involved in another error in the game

Miguel Rojas was involved in another error of the game, though this time it happened in favor of the Dodgers. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Andy Pages advanced due to a wild pitch, then took third and scored when St. Louis Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages’s throw ricocheted off Rojas’s bat and went to the on-deck circle.

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Rojas explained the play in the postgame conference, saying:

"I just feel like, as soon as Pages caught the ball, I feel like he got an opportunity to throw the guy out at third base. As a third baseman, it's never an easy read because you still think that you’ve got a play over there."

Rojas is generally a defensive specialist for the Dodgers, but he won't be happy with his defense in Wednesday's loss.

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Edited by Veer Badani
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