The Los Angeles Dodgers’ utility man Miguel Rojas has become a fan favorite following his 2025 World Series heroics. However, just days ahead of Opening Day, Rojas hit an unexpected obstacle when his name was mistakenly linked to a doping controversy.

Evan Drellich of The Athletic erroneously reported on X that Miguel Rojas of the Dodgers has been suspended for 80 days for using performance-enhancing drugs (PED), when in reality the ban was imposed upon Johan Rojas of the Philadelphia Phillies.

On the latest episode of Baseball Today with Chris Rose of Jomboy Media, Rojas expressed his displeasure with the situation. He accused Drellich of deliberately including his name at the same time.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let me stop you there. He didn’t mistype my name,” Roajs said. “He did it with all the intention to put my name and the organization’s name on that tweet.”

Rojas added, “One thing is to mistype my name and say Miguel Roas got suspended. That’s a fair kind of mistake that you can commit. But when you say Miguel Rojas from the Los Angeles Dodgers got suspended 80 games for PEDs, that’s what I’m not good with, you know.”

On the podcast, Rojas revealed that he believes it was not simply a typing mistake. Rather, Drellich thought he was the one who got suspended and meant to write his name all along.

Rojas’ suspicions were confirmed as admitting his mistake, Drellich wrote on X, “I’ve deleted a post incorrectly identifying who was suspended today. It was Johan Rojas of the Philadelphia Phillies who was suspended.”

Rojas further revealed, “I gonna talk to you about this and this is the only person that I’m going to talk to about the about this issue because I don’t want to make it a big deal and I don’t want to make it about myself, but I feel like as a reporter, you have to have some ability to be a professional as well and apologize not just to me, but to the organization.”

Though the reporter deleted his X post and publicly admitted his mistake, Rojas expected a more professional approach from Drellich and for him to take responsibility for the controversy he created.

In the podcast, the Dodgers’ utility man made another shocking revelation that Drellich neither reached out to him personally nor to his representatives to apologize. Rojas said that the only media person who reached out to him was Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times.

“The only guy who reached out to me was Jack Harris; he’s an LA reporter. He’s here at camp, and he was the one reaching out to my agent yesterday when all this happened. But like I said, I mean, I’m okay. I was just, like, concerned about why my name had to be in this conversation, but this guy didn’t even, because I don’t have X or Twitter or whatever,” remarked Rojas, adding that he is not active on X.

However, Rojas can now feel better about the situation as Drellich informed on X that he has reached out and apologized to Rojas and the Dodgers.

The reporter wrote on X, “To Miguel Rojas and the Dodgers, I sincerely and publicly apologize. I’ve reached out to Miguel, the Dodgers and Miguel’s agent to say the same. Once again, I’m sorry.”

Though Rojas is understandably disturbed by the situation, he hopes to move on from it quickly. As for now, Rojas is currently celebrating his country, Venezuela’s victory in the WBC 2026. Rojas himself could not be a part of the Venezuelan WBC squad due to problems with insurance.

Miguel Rojas, who hit the game-tying home run in the ninth inning of the World Series Game 7 against the Toronto Blue Jays, will be in action on Opening Day against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Who was actually suspended and what happened?

The Dodgers and Miguel Rojas have zero involvement in the doping controversy. MLB actually suspended the Philadelphia Phillies’ center fielder, Johan Rojas, for using PEDs.

The 25-year-old Phillies player was suspended for 80 games and will serve the suspension to begin the 2026 season. Johan Rojas will also be ineligible to play in the postseason.

News reports stated that he did not play for the Dominican Republic in the WBC because of the suspension. However, he was playing for the Phillies in the Grapefruit League games. Rojas had appealed the test result with the MLB, but ultimately lost.

After MLB gave an official confirmation, the franchise reportedly issued a statement that read, “The Phillies fully support Major League Baseball’s Joint Prevention and Treatment Program and are disappointed to hear today’s news of Johan’s violation.”

Though Johan Rojas was unlikely to make the Phillies’ Opening Day roster, the suspension cemented it. Justin Crawford will be the Phillies’ everyday center fielder for the 2026 season.

The 22-year-old registered 10 hits, 3 doubles, and 3 stolen bases in 14 Spring Training games.