Cubs No. 5 prospect Jefferson Rojas' swing turning heads in major-league camp — 'Wow'

PHOENIX — About 20 minutes before Cubs prospect Jefferson Rojas was set to face right-hander Cade Horton in live batting practice early this spring, the NL Rookie of the Year runner-up had a request: “Hey, go easy on me.”

Rojas didn't exactly oblige.

On a backfield at the Cubs’ Mesa complex, with a gaggle of fans, coaches and players looking on, Rojas launched a home run off Horton.

“I told you!” one of Rojas’ minor-league teammates said to another as they passed.

Horton grinned at the mention of the encounter weeks later. He estimated that he’s faced Rojas seven times over the years. Rojas homered in three of those match-ups, all on different pitches.

“Jefferson, he owns me,” Horton said. “Like, all right, dude, we get it! You're a good hitter.

“But he's really skilled for his age, and just really mature for his age. So I'm happy to have him on our team.”

Rojas, ranked the Cubs’ No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline, is the youngest Cubs player in major-league camp this year. The 20-year-old non-roster invitee is already turning heads.

“Jefferson's made a great impression,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Just being able to see Jefferson two years ago, and where we're at right now — wow. … We've got a good offensive player here that's going to impact the baseball and do some damage. He's going to be a dangerous hitter.”

In addition to that backfield live batting practice home run, Rojas homered in two Cactus League games. Both have been no-doubters.

The most recent helped lift the Cubs over the Brewers on Wednesday at American Family Field of Phoenix. He crushed a changeup 438 feet, according to Statcast.

Rojas agreed that the big-leagues and Wrigley Field don't feel all that distant anymore.

“Getting to practice with players that play out there, it definitely feels closer,” he said through team interpreter Fredy Quevedo Jr.

Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly, formerly a minor-league coordinator, watched Rojas play in the Dominican Republic when he was about 17 years old.

“You could tell that he was going to be a good player, but he was so raw,” Kelly told the Sun-Times. “And just seeing him out here, how hard he's hitting the ball, where his swing has come — his swing looks so good right now. So it's really, really fun.”

Rojas’ listed height and weight, 5-foot-11 and 150 pounds, is certainly outdated. But he’s not exactly physically imposing. His power comes from a combination of weight lifting and medicine-ball training, and efficient swing mechanics.

“A lot of the work that he's done down in the minor leagues is getting into his legs and using his lower half and creating a little bit of posture,” Kelly said. “So, his swing path is really cleaned up, and just the overall efficiency of his swing, where it is right now, is generating some output. He's hitting the ball really hard — much harder than what I thought or expected from him, especially in a major-league camp at 20 years old.”

The day before, Kelly had double-checked Rojas’ age, not quite believing that he still was only 20.

Rojas hasn’t yet played above Double-A, getting 39 games at that level under his belt last year. Naturally, his production dipped as he adjusted. He posted a .485 OPS after owning a .871 OPS in Single-A to start the season.

“You’ve got a lot more more more prospects in there,” he said, “so it's definitely a lot more competitive than what you’ve got in South Bend.”

So, the big-leagues aren’t calling quite yet. But Rojas has definitely capture the major-league staff’s attention.