The Royals have selected the contract of veteran infielder Josh Rojas from Triple-A Omaha, they announced Wednesday. Fellow infielder Jonathan India, who underwent season-ending shoulder surgery back in April, moves to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Righty Stephen Kolek was placed on the family medical emergency list to open a spot on the active roster.
Rojas, 31, has experience in parts of seven big league seasons. He’s picked up more than five years of major league service between the D-backs, Mariners and White Sox. The second baseman/third baseman is a career .241/.317/.353 hitter, but his past few seasons haven’t gone well. Rojas was a productive infielder for Arizona in 2021-22 and had a decent run in Seattle after being traded there in 2023, but he hit just .211/.288/.313 in nearly 700 plate appearances between the M’s and ChiSox from ’24-’25.
Rojas has spent the 2026 season with Kansas City’s top minor league affiliate in Omaha. He’s posted a .246/.309/.433 line in 189 plate appearances — about 13% worse than league-average, by measure of wRC+. However, he’s been swinging a hot bat over the past month: .303/.357/.553 with just a 12.9% strikeout rate. Five of Rojas’ six home runs this season have come in his past 20 games.
While Rojas can play second and third base, Kansas City is largely set at the hot corner with Maikel Garcia signed long term. Second base is far less certain. Royals second basemen have been among the worst in baseball this season, combining for a .201/.271/.363 slash. Michael Massey has taken the majority of playing time there, with India and Nick Loftin chipping in a combined 106 plate appearances. Isaac Collins and Tyler Tolbert both have one lone plate appearance as a second baseman for Kansas City.
Rojas, Massey and Loftin will probably share second base work for the time being. Rojas can also spell Garcia if the Royals want to get him a breather. Since Rojas is only about two months shy of reaching six years of service time, he’ll be a free agent at season’s end if he sticks with the Royals the rest of the way.
