October 10th, 2014 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka We all know that hindsight is 20/20 and that second-guessing only adds more frustration to an already frustrating situation. But one has to ask oneself if Miguel Rojas had been brought into game-4 of the NLDS as a defensive replacement for Hanley Ramirez in the top of the seventh inning knowing that heart of the Cardinals lineup was due up, would he have made the play on Jhonny Peralta’s line drive up the middle that Ramirez got his glove on but was unable to make?
There is no way we will ever know if Miguel Rojas would have made this extremely difficult play, but those familiar with his outstanding defensive skills believe that he would have.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)
Obviously we will never know the answer to this question and it is entirely a moot point now, but in all probability Rojas does make that play which, of course, would have made Matt Adams’s home run a game-tying two-run home run instead of an eventual game-winning three-run home run.
As most Dodger fans know, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly frequently brought Rojas in as a defensive replacement for Ramirez late in games during the stretch run and on more than one occasion Rojas made difficult if not impossible defensive plays that ended up preventing runs from scoring and in several instances saved the game itself. There is no better example of Rojas’s tremendous defensive skills than when he made an incredible backhand grab of Troy Tulowitzki’s hot grounder down the third base line that preserved Clayton Kershaw’s no-hitter on June 18 against the Colorado Rockies.
There is absolutely zero doubt that Rojas saved Kershaw’s no-hitter with this outstanding play.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)
All of this being said, in most cases Mattingly would usually bring Rojas in immediately after Hanley’s third or fourth at-bat late in games which, in this case, came in the bottom of the seventh inning. And while this is also a moot point, it is certainly food for thought and if nothing else it gives disappointed Dodger fans something else to chew on during the long, cold and lonely off-season.
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Ramirez is 6’2″, Rojas is 6’0″. Ramirez had full extension and the ball went off his glove. I don’t think Rojas would have gotten it either, but I still wish he’d have been in!
It is doubtful Rojas would have caught the ball. However, we don’t know who has the longer arms or glove or if Rojas has a higher vertical leap. Hanley certainly made a great effort.
I also wish Miguel had been in. Perhaps he might have been quicker to the ball and gotten a bit of a better angle, straight up and not up and over.
This is exactly why I think Rojas makes the play. That being said, Hanley did make several excellent plays during the series.
I usually comment first before reading what others have to say but in this case I made an exception. Mainly because I had nothing to say. I think Dick and Harold had excellent responses but that’s what happened.
Like Ethier not getting back to third in time and Gordon not getting to the ball before Hanley’s unsuccessful try, it’s just something that added to our misery.