MLB Pipeline released it’s preseason rankings for every team’s top-30 prospects earlier this week and Chicago Cubs shortstop Jefferson Rojas came in at No. 5. The 20-year-old will head into the 2026 season out of MLB’s top-100 list a year after he was ranked 97th by MLB.com’s prospects expert Jonathan Mayo. Rojas must have taken that latest ranking personally because the talented Cubs’ prospect responded with a mammoth bomb against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday.
Rojas has been making a statement since the start of spring training and he continued his path of destruction against Milwaukee’s top-10 pitching prospect Logan Henderson in Chicago’s 4-1 win in Phoenix. Rojas got a meatball, directly over the middle of the plate and the right-handed hitting shortstop blasted Henderson’s changeup out of the ballpark.
Spring training results should not determine your opinion on a player, but it’s getting difficult to ignore just how insane Rojas has looked at the plate through the first couple weeks of games down in Arizona.
That 438-foot home run raised Rojas’ spring slash line to .318/.375/.727. That’s a 1.102 OPS through 24 plate appearances and more importantly Rojas is producing outstanding metrics early on in camp. We’re not talking about a guy getting cheap hits on bloopers to the outfielder or seeing-eye singles.
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Rojas has been crushing the ball in every game he’s played so far in the Cactus League.
Rojas finished the 2025 season as the No. 3 prospect in the Cubs’ minor league system. He most likely dropped two spots over the offseason because Rojas did struggle in his first stint at Double-A last year.
However, Rojas has all the tools to become the next star prospect with the Cubs. His ability to make quality contact and punish mistakes is already off the charts, but there’s no doubt that Rojas will need more seasoning in the minors. At 20-years-old, Rojas still has to take more steps in his development, but he’s shown up to spring training with a chip on his shoulder.
The Cubs will most likely have Rojas begin the 2026 season at Double-A. A good year for the shortstop means Rojas will be up to Triple-A and a no-doubt top-100 prospect in MLB. Keep your eye on Jefferson Rojas. A lot to love about his game.
