At that time, no one would have expected this. A young man from the Dominican Republic, who first set foot on Korean soil as a replacement foreign player in 2017, would redefine the history of foreign player home runs in professional baseball. Now, he is just seven home runs away from becoming a true legend.

Mel Rojas Jr., a foreign batter for KT, activated his home run power in a home game against the SSG Landers during the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held on the 23rd at Suwon KT Wiz Park.

Rojas, batting first in the bottom of the sixth inning when trailing 1-11, hit a home run against SSG's starting pitcher Mitch White. He connected with White's first pitch, a 149 km/h fastball, sending it over the right-field wall for a solo home run with a distance of 130 meters. This was his fourth home run of the season, occurring after three games since the match against the Kiwoom Heroes on the 19th.

With this home run, Rojas climbed to a total of 168 home runs in his career, surpassing the KBO League foreign batter record previously held by Hanwha Eagles legend foreign player Jay Davis, who had 167 home runs over seven seasons with Hanwha from 1999 to 2006 (excluding 2003). However, a new contender emerged in 2025, causing a significant shake-up in the rankings.

Rojas entered the KBO League in June 2017 as a replacement foreign player for Johnny Monell during the tenure of manager Kim Jin-wook. Despite being a replacement player, he quickly adapted to the league, achieving a batting average of .301 with 18 home runs and 56 RBIs over 83 games, successfully securing a re-signing. By the end of the 2020 season, he had a career batting average of .321 with 633 hits, 132 home runs, and 409 RBIs, and achieved a significant offensive record. His career high came in the 2020 season, where he won four crowns with 47 home runs, 135 RBIs, and 116 runs, earning the regular season MVP.

Rojas leveraged his success in the KBO League to sign a two-year contract with the Hanshin Tigers in Japanese professional baseball, but he faced significant challenges in adjusting to Japanese pitchers. He experienced a frustrating time as the issuance of work visas was restricted due to COVID-19, resulting in his entry into Japan occurring only in April, leading to a delayed debut in May. He recorded an embarrassing streak of 21 at-bats without a hit, finishing the season with a .217 batting average, 8 home runs, and 21 RBIs over 60 games. In 2022, he also struggled significantly, achieving a .224 batting average with 9 home runs and 27 RBIs over 89 games.

The team that reached out to Rojas during his wandering days was his former team, KT. KT boldly invested $900,000, believing that Rojas would perform sufficiently in the KBO League. Rojas made a comeback in the 2024 season, playing in all 144 games with a batting average of .329, 188 hits, 32 home runs, 112 RBIs, a slugging percentage of .568, and an on-base percentage of .421. This year, after re-signing for $1.8 million, he started sluggishly with a batting average of .237, 4 home runs, and 10 RBIs in 26 games; however, he successfully surpassed Davis with 4 home runs.

Rojas's next goal is to challenge for the title of all-time home run leader with Tyrone Woods. Woods hit 174 home runs in 614 games with the OB and Doosan Bears from 1998 to 2002. He has held the record for foreign player home runs in professional baseball for over 20 years, generating home runs at an astonishing rate. If Rojas adds just 6 more home runs, he will tie for first place, and if he hits 7 more, he will change the history of foreign players in the KBO League. The day he becomes a true foreign legend seems to be approaching.

▲Rojas’s home runs by season

18 in the 2017 season

43 in the 2018 season

24 in the 2019 season

47 in the 2020 season

32 in the 2024 season

4 in the 2025 season

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