Johan Rojas undergoes UCL surgery, not expected back until spring training 2027

What happened

Johan Rojas underwent UCL surgery with an internal brace on June 21, according to Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Phillies announced on June 25 that he has been reinstated from the restricted list and placed on the 60-day injured list. Per the club's earlier announcement, the expectation is that Rojas will be ready for spring training 2027.

The surgery closes out a 2026 season that had already been effectively erased before a single pitch was thrown his way.

Why it matters

The UCL procedure is the second major development in what has become a lost year for Rojas. Back in March, the Phillies announced he had received an 80-game suspension after testing positive for the performance-enhancing substance Boldenone — a penalty that stood to consume the entire first half of his regular season and, as is the case for all players suspended for PEDs under league rules, render him ineligible for the postseason regardless of when he returned.

The elbow injury surfaced while Rojas was ramping up to return from that suspension. The Phillies announced on June 10 that imaging had revealed a tear of his ulnar collateral ligament, requiring surgical repair involving an internal brace. At that point he remained on the restricted list; the June 25 transaction — moving him off the restricted list and onto the 60-day IL — reflects the formal roster accounting that follows once the suspension period concludes and the medical picture is settled.

As a general matter of league roster mechanics, the 60-day IL removes a player from the 40-man roster count, which gives a club flexibility to carry other players in that space for the remainder of the season. It is worth noting that the spring training 2027 return expectation is the club's stated timetable, not a guarantee — the Phillies have not offered a more specific date beyond that framing.

Is Rojas available at any point this season?

No. Per the Phillies' announcement and Lauber's reporting, Rojas is not expected back until spring training 2027. The combination of the PED suspension — which already carried a postseason ineligibility clause — and the UCL surgery means his 2026 season is over in every practical sense. No timetable offered by the club would place him on a field before next February at the earliest.

The sequence is worth pausing on: the suspension was announced in March, the elbow soreness emerged during his ramp-up back, imaging then revealed the UCL tear, and the surgery followed on June 21. Each step pushed the horizon a little further out until the calendar simply ran out of room.

Where the club stands

The Phillies enter Thursday's game at Washington sitting at 88-74 (.543), second in the NL East and 6 games back, with the division race closed. They carry a one-game winning streak into Nationals Park, where Cristopher Sánchez is the probable starter against Cade Cavalli.

From there, the schedule turns immediately more demanding: Friday and Saturday bring back-to-back games at Citi Field against the Mets, with Zack Wheeler lined up for Friday against Zac Thornton, and Tim Mayza slated for Saturday opposite Christian Scott.

A club sitting 6 games back with the division race formally closed is playing for wild-card positioning, which means every roster decision carries weight. The 60-day IL placement for Rojas tidies the 40-man picture, but it does not change the competitive calculus in any immediate sense — he was not going to be available regardless of how the transaction was structured. The Mets series this weekend, with Wheeler going Friday, will offer a reasonable read on where this team stands as the calendar turns toward July.

What we don't know yet

The Phillies have not specified a more precise return target beyond "spring training 2027," so the full recovery arc remains open. The club announced the procedure involves an internal brace rather than a more extensive reconstruction, but the Phillies have not characterized what that distinction means for the expected timeline, and the desk does not project recoveries from general surgical context. What the Phillies said is spring training 2027, and that is what stands.

It is also not yet clear how the club intends to address the outfield depth questions that Rojas's absence creates heading into the stretch run. The June 25 transaction handles the roster mechanics; it does not announce any corresponding move to fill the vacancy.

What to watch

The most immediate question is whether the Phillies make a corresponding roster addition now that the 60-day IL placement has freed space on the 40-man. That move, if it comes, would be the next transaction to track.

Beyond that, the wild-card race is the operational context for everything Philadelphia does between now and the end of the regular season. At 88-74, they are a club with enough wins to be in the conversation but not enough margin to be comfortable — and they are doing it without a player who, when healthy and eligible, figures into their outfield picture.

Rojas himself is a story that extends well past this season. The suspension, the elbow injury that emerged during his ramp-up, the surgery, the 60-day IL placement — it is a sequence that would test any player's relationship with the calendar. The Phillies' stated expectation is that he arrives at spring training 2027 ready to compete. Whether that holds is the question that gets answered next February, not now.