A secondary aspect to the Los Angeles Dodgers being chosen by Roki Sasaki was Miguel Rojas switching jersey numbers and returning to wearing 72.
Rojas changing his jersey number allows Sasaki to take over No. 11 with the Dodgers, like his idol Yu Darvish. Sasaki wore Nos. 14 and 17 over various points during his career in Japan.
Those options of course weren’t available to Sasaki for his MLB debut due to Shohei Ohtani wearing No. 17 and 14 being a retired Dodgers number for Gil Hodges.
Miguel Rojas shared a first look at his new (old?) number.
7️⃣2️⃣ pic.twitter.com/Of1JpNmOAW— Matthew Moreno (@Matthew__Moreno) January 24, 2025
Rojas originally hinted at his number change with posts on Instagram with the captions “It’s time” and “Back to the roots.”
With the jersey change now confirmed, Rojas shared a video wearing his No. 72 Dodgers jersey. It’s the number he was given when making his MLB debut with the Dodgers in 2014. Rojas was No. 72 when he made a tremendous backhanded play at third base to save Clayton Kershaw’s only no-hitter of his career.
Rojas wore No. 19 while with the Miami Marlins before changing to 11. He couldn’t stick with No. 19 upon returning to the Dodgers before the 2023 season due to it being retired for Jim Gilliam.
Roki Sasaki planning to get gift for Miguel Rojas
A player giving up a jersey number usually nets them some form of compensation or gifts, such as when Ohtani gave a Porsche to Joe Kelly’s wife to thank the family for allowing him to continue wearing No. 17 as a Major Leaguer.
“I’m really grateful that a veteran like Miguel Rojas has let me wear number 11,” Sasaki said through interpreter Will Ireton during his introductory press conference at Dodger Stadium.
“I haven’t decided yet on what I’m going to give him. I’m going to start thinking about that.”
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