Phillies’ Johan Rojas makes a flawless return to the outfield

NORTH PORT, Fla. — Phillies center fielder Johan Rojas broke into a run the moment the ball left Jurickson Profar’s bat.

Playing defense in a game for the first time this spring, Rojas needed to cover a lot of ground to snare the fly ball in left-center. But he made it look like no trouble at all, catching the ball over his shoulder without breaking stride.

The catch, which came in the third inning of a 7-0 Phillies loss to the Braves, was one of four putouts for Rojas on Thursday.

Defense has always been Rojas’ calling card, but it had to be put on pause to start this spring after he injured his right shoulder playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic.

“I was just waiting to play in the outfield, and I just say every day, ‘Come on, arm, get better. Get better, get better,’” Rojas said.

Before he was cleared to play in games, Rojas “power-shagged,” which involves sprinting full-speed at fly balls, to keep himself in game-ready shape. Rob Thomson usually limits his players to five innings in their first few spring training games, but he felt comfortable with Rojas playing seven on Thursday.

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And over his 13 appearances at designated hitter, Rojas had the opportunity to focus on his offense. Rojas, who is hitting .297 with an .880 OPS this spring, said he has been working with Phillies coaches on pulling the ball in the air.

That’s exactly what he did Thursday with his leadoff double off Héctor Neris, which bounced off the left-field wall, just a few feet away from being his third homer of the spring.

That double was one of only four hits the Phillies mustered in the game. Cal Stevenson also doubled while Alec Bohm and minor league call-up Luis Verdugo tallied singles.

On the mound: Nabil Crismatt started and allowed one run across three innings. Crismatt allowed a leadoff double to Profar, but then he retired Braves regulars Austin Riley, Matt Olson, and Marcell Ozuna in order.

Crismatt was lifted after Olson singled to lead off the fourth, and the Braves first baseman came around to score after Kyle Tyler allowed a walk and a double. Tyler was charged with five runs after allowing five hits and two walks over 1⅔ innings.

Crismatt and Tyler are competing to be relief options if Matt Strahm (shoulder) is not ready to join the team by opening day.

Health check: Less than six hours after Rafael Marchán was officially designated the Phillies’ backup catcher to start the season, he was hit by a pitch on his left elbow. Marchán remained in the game and said afterward that he was fine.

“Luckily, it was [the] left elbow, and I don’t think it’s anything to worry about,” Thomson said. “... I was thinking it might have been the hand, and that really scared me.”

Quotable: “He can pitch. He just keeps people off balance,” Thomson said about Crismatt. “And he’s got a really good changeup. He left a couple up today that got hit hard. Usually they’re down. But his curveball was good. I thought he was OK.”

On deck: The Phillies play two split-squad games on Friday, one at home against Minnesota and in Dunedin, Fla., against the Blue Jays. Zack Wheeler will start against the Twins and Joe Ross will start against Toronto.

Ranger Suárez (stiff back) “felt a lot better today,” Thomson said. Suárez will play catch on Friday. … Strahm “came in fine” after throwing a bullpen session on Wednesday.