When a position player takes the mound—outside of Shohei Ohtani—it’s never a good sign. Los Angeles Dodgers fans were already frustrated seeing veteran utilityman Miguel Rojas pitch in Saturday’s 16-0 blowout loss to the Chicago Cubs. But while his performance (7 hits, 5 earned runs over 2 innings) was rough, it was his behavior that truly ignited backlash.
Rojas drew ire for mimicking the pitching motions of teammates Roki Sasaki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Clayton Kershaw—a seemingly harmless gesture that rubbed fans the wrong way amid a historic defeat. Social media erupted, with some calling for his removal from the team.
“Cut Miguel Rojas and Ben Casparius off the [expletive] team,” one fan tweeted. Another added, “I will genuinely pay for Miguel Rojas’s ticket out of LA.”
Despite the lopsided score, TV cameras caught Dodgers players laughing at Rojas’ antics—a reaction that further angered supporters. “I see the humor, but laughing during the worst home loss in Dodgers history is unacceptable,” one fan vented. “This team has a leadership issue that’s going to leave them at .500.”
Rojas, however, appeared unfazed. The 36-year-old joked about imitating Sasaki’s windup in his postgame comments, calling it “really uncomfortable.” “I don’t know how he lifts his leg like that,”he told reporters. “Bad decision—I should’ve stuck with Yamamoto and Landon Knack’s styles.”
But while Rojas found humor in the situation, fans weren’t laughing. “If MLB can enforce stupid rules for everything, they should ban this nonsense,”one user wrote. “At that point, just forfeit the game.”
The incident has only intensified scrutiny on the struggling Dodgers, leaving many questioning the team’s accountability—and Rojas’ future in LA.
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