Jefferson Rojas, the New York Mets’ top-ranked prospect, is carrying his regular-season power surge straight into Dominican Winter League play. The 21-year-old infielder homered twice in his second game for Gigantes del Cibao on Saturday night, continuing a stretch of production that has defined his breakout 2026 season.
Rojas, MLB‘s No. 68 overall prospect, went 4-for-7 with two home runs, four runs scored, three RBIs, a walk and a stolen base through his first two games with Cibao, good for a 2.054 OPS. He drove in a 7-1 win over Tigres del Licey at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal with three hits.
Rojas Homers Twice Against Licey
Rojas opened the scoring for Cibao with a first-inning home run, pulling a 92.4-mph sinker from Vladimir Gutiérrez over the left-field wall. He added a second homer in the seventh inning, turning on an off-speed pitch from right-hander Luis Frías and sending it out to left field, according to MLB.com.
The two-homer night came in just his second appearance in Dominican Winter League play, a quick follow-up to a regular season in which he combined to hit five home runs over his final 11 games between Double-A and Triple-A.
What The Winter Surge Means
Rojas finished the 2026 regular season slashing .274/.338/.505 across 126 games, with 57 extra-base hits, 27 home runs, 93 RBIs, 90 runs scored and 21 stolen bases. That power output marked a jump for a player who started the year with Double-A Knoxville, where he hit 15 homers in 91 games before the Mets acquired him.
New York landed Rojas at the Trade Deadline in a deal that sent starter Clay Holmes and outfielder Tyrone Taylor to the Chicago Cubs. He played six games for Triple-A Syracuse after the trade, giving the Mets a brief, in-person look at the bat that now headlines their farm system.
Development Timeline
Rojas signed with the Cubs for a $1 million bonus out of the Dominican Republic in 2022. He was the youngest regular in the Single-A Carolina League at age 18 in 2023, then the second-youngest batting qualifier in the High-A Midwest League at age 19 in 2024, when he slashed .278/.379/.492.
His climb hit a speed bump after a July 2025 promotion to Double-A, where he was the second-youngest everyday player in the Southern League at age 20 and slashed just .164/.279/.205 following the jump. The power numbers he has posted since, including the 27 homers in 2026 and now the winter league start, suggest that early adjustment period has passed.
What’s Next
Rojas will continue play for Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican Winter League, where he is now 4-for-7 with two home runs through two outings. The Mets enter their offseason weighing several roster and payroll decisions after missing the 2026 playoffs, with their prospect pipeline, led by Rojas, a key part of the long-term outlook.
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