Miguel Rojas is the winner of the 2024 Roy Campanella Award | by Cary Osborne | Sep, 2024

by Cary Osborne

If one game this season was indicative of Miguel Rojas, it was the September 16 game in Atlanta.

The experienced shortstop was in the lineup behind five All-Stars and was the key driver in the Dodgers' 9-0 victory.

The 35-year-old infielder played brilliant defense as usual, but the little things on the other side stood out.

After earning a walk in the third inning, Rojas stole third base during an at-bat by Freddie Freeman, then took advantage of a wild pitch from Braves starter Max Fried to score the Dodgers' first run.

In the fifth inning, Rojas hit a single to right field to score Tommy Edman. Later in the inning, he scored on a groundout by Shohei Ohtani.

Rojas then started the seventh inning with a six-run walk.

His baserunning played a role again when he beat the throw to home plate due to a fielder's decision.

“He won us a game tonight,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Whether it's his two-hit approach against Fried or the baserunning … it shows how much he cares about the game of baseball and how much he loves it.”

But it's just one game. It was a season of exceptional performances that helped Rojas be named the Dodgers' 2024 Roy Campanella Award winner.

He is the winner of the 19th annual award, voted on by uniformed Dodger members to honor the player who best embodies the spirit and leadership qualities of the late Hall of Fame catcher.

“He brings grit and fighting spirit,” Roberts said in Atlanta. “He really embodies what I look for in a baseball player.”

Rafael Furcal received the first Roy Campanella Award in 2006, and since then the honor has been given to Russell Martin (2007), James Loney (2008), Juan Pierre (2009), Jamey Carroll (2010), Matt Kemp (2011), AJ Ellis (2012), Clayton Kershaw (2013–14), Zack Greinke (2015), Chase Utley (2016, 2018), Justin Turner (2017, 2019–20), Chris Taylor (2021), Freddie Freeman (2022) and Jason Heyward (2023).

Rojas was not expected to be a starter for the Dodgers for the second year in a row. Last season, Gavin Lux's season-ending knee injury paved the way for Rojas to become the Dodgers' starting shortstop. This season, Rojas' consistent and effective hitting propelled him into the lineup and allowed the Dodgers to move Mookie Betts – the Dodgers' starting shortstop for the first half – to right field.

Rojas has done great things – he was (again) one of the National League's leaders in defensive runs saved as a shortstop and delivered arguably the best offensive season of his career. At the end of June of this year, the Dodgers were 24-0 when Rojas got a hit in the game.

He also took care of the little things – mentoring Betts when he moved to the infield earlier in the season, mentoring younger players and coaching on the field.

“I'm a firm believer that you make your job easier by making the people around you better. And for me, it's my job to make Doc's job easier,” Rojas said of his manager during spring training.