Baseball is life! Josh Rojas’s dominance for the Mariners and what it means

The Seattle Mariners' resurgence in the past three weeks has been largely due to historic pitching, but it should not be forgotten that the offense has also been carried by an MVP-caliber start by one of the team's starters.

No, I'm not talking about Julio Rodriguez, J.P. Crawford, or Cal Raleigh. We're talking about the stunning and incredibly fun start by Josh Rojas.

The implications of the “Rojas Rise”

Rojas, who had been a versatile defender with an average bat for his hometown Arizona Diamondbacks for four and a half seasons, was part of the trade deadline deal with Seattle that saw Paul Sewald head to Phoenix, while Dominic Canzone and Rojas went to Seattle. 

While the deal played a large role in Arizona winning the NL pennant, Seattle may have stumbled upon something with Rojas. Heading into the Minnesota series, Rojas was slashing .360/.442/.587 with 3 long balls and an OPS+ of 200, which was good for the absolute best in the American League!

Rojas continued his torrid start with a 2-5 night in the second game of the series that included the game-winning hit in the 9th before the rest of the gang blew the doors off the Twins in a 10-6 rebound victory. He's already closing in on a 1.3 WAR start in just 26 games, which would equate to a 5.5 WAR player if he kept this up in his projected 120 games played, which will surely increase as long as he keeps playing like an MVP candidate.