Johan Rojas of the Philadelphia Phillies Suspended

Major League Baseball player Johan Rojas has received an 80-game suspension without pay. This follows an unsuccessful appeal regarding a positive test for banned performance-enhancing substances.

Rojas, an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, tested positive for the anabolic steroid Boldenone. The news of his failed test emerged earlier this month, leading not only to his suspension by MLB but also to his removal from the Dominican Republic’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) roster.

In the recent WBC semifinals, the Dominican Republic lost to Team USA with a score of 2-1, allowing the latter to advance to the finals, where they will face either Venezuela or Italy.

With the suspension in place, Rojas won’t return until the latter part of the MLB season. He’ll also be ineligible to join the Phillies if they make it to the playoffs.

Rojas, who made his major league debut in 2023, has spent his entire career with the Phillies. After encountering some struggles in offense, he was demoted to the minor leagues in 2024 but still played 120 games for the team that year.

In 2025, he participated in 71 games, finishing with a batting average of .224, a .280 on-base percentage, and .289 slugging percentage, totaling just one home run and 18 RBIs from 172 at-bats.

Before his suspension, Rojas had a difficult spring training, batting .167 over 24 at-bats.

His situation isn’t unique; he’s now the second major league player to face a long suspension this season. Atlanta Braves star Jurickson Profar received a hefty 162-game suspension for a second PED violation, which means he’ll miss the entire 2026 season. He had previously been suspended for 80 games last season after testing positive for chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a hormone that stimulates testosterone production.

As for Rojas, the implications of this suspension are significant—not just for him but for the Phillies, who will miss his presence on the field during a critical part of the season.