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We do not need to revisit the trade that brought Kendry Rojas over at the 2025 trade deadline, but it’s fair to say it hasn’t worked out the way the Twins had hoped it would thus far.
The young left-hander made his MLB debut in 2026 but was unable to make a notable impact on the pitching-starved roster. There are many questions left for Rojas to answer, but 2027 should provide a lot more clarity.
Rojas came over to Minnesota with plenty of red flags already raised regarding his ability to stick as a starting pitcher. One of the main concerns was his ability to remain on the field, which is now a growing concern after another injury-riddled campaign in 2026.
After barely surpassing 130 combined innings in 2024 and 2025, Rojas failed to build on those modest workloads in 2026. He missed the beginning of the season with a hamstring strain, missed almost a month midseason due to triceps problems, and then suffered an oblique strain at the end of August. He finished the season with just under 70 total innings across all levels. His 84 innings pitched in 2023 in A ball remain his career high.
Rojas has also had spells of wildness in his minor league career, which escalated to a concerning level in 2026. The walks he allowed in the minor leagues weren’t terribly high, but the 16.9% walk rate he posted at the big-league level was a major reason Rojas couldn’t stick with the big-league club last season. Too often, he racked up pitch counts through inefficiency and walked a tightrope with so many free baserunners. Such extreme walk issues are completely untenable in any big-league role, but being a starter with so many free passes is out of the question.
The first hurdle for Rojas to clear in 2027, of course, is his availability. If he can’t take a notable step up in workload, his path to a long-term rotation spot starts to narrow as we look to 2028 and beyond. At some point he has to take a step toward a starting pitcher's workload if that's his long-term role. If he can’t get the walks under control, performance becomes a concern, as despite his ERA and related indicators looking solid last season, it’s hard to expect that to continue with so many free base runners and such poor efficiency.
Regardless of whether he’s in the middle to back end of the rotation or serving as a high-leverage bullpen arm, the Twins need Rojas to become a contributor to their big-league pitching staff. The return on the 2025 trade deadline sell-off does not look good thus far, and Rojas developing and staying healthy would make it look a lot better. More importantly, the Twins are lacking pitching depth throughout their system. They need some young arms to step up, and Rojas is at the top of the list after their choice to invest as much as they did in him.
2027 is a very important year for Kendry Rojas. He has the raw stuff and arm talent to be an impactful piece of the Twins’ pitching staff for years to come, but it’s time for him to show he’s up to the task. Can he do it?
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