Johan Rojas reportedly tested positive for a banned substance, will no longer play in the World Baseball Classic

Latin American reporter Wilber Sanchez broke the news Sunday night that Phillies outfielder Johan Rojas tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance and will not be eligible to participate in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

As of right now, MLB has not formally confirmed anything beyond the WBC piece, which matters more than it might seem at first glance.

Johan Rojas tests positive for banned substance

SOURCE: Johan Rojas tests positive for banned substance

Dominican outfielder Johan Rojas of the Philadelphia Phillies has tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance and will not be eligible to participate in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

The suspension rules him… pic.twitter.com/VuZxh9o8Tl

— Wilber Sánchez (@wilberdata) March 2, 2026

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The World Baseball Classic and MLB operate under different testing programs with different rules. A positive test that gets you removed from the WBC does not automatically translate into an 80-game MLB suspension.

The two programs are run independently and the substances, thresholds, and consequences do not always align. So before anyone declares Johan Rojas done for a chunk of the regular season, it is worth waiting to see what MLB actually says and whether this crosses over into their jurisdiction at all.

That said, even in the best case scenario for Johan Rojas where this stays confined to the WBC, he was already in a genuinely tough spot heading into Spring Training.

He hit .238 last season. His defense was solid but his bat was never good enough to make him a lock on a roster full of outfield options. He was going to have to earn his way onto this team regardless of any of this news, and now he is doing it with a cloud hanging over his head and a story following him into every at-bat this Spring.

The Phillies have also been through this recently enough that it stings a little to see it come up again. Jose Alvarado had an 80-game PED suspension in 2025. Max Kepler was banned in January 2026.

This is the third time in a short stretch that the organization has been connected to this conversation and that pattern is worth acknowledging even without drawing broader conclusions from it.

For now the WBC is off the table for Johan Rojas. Whether anything else follows is a question for MLB to answer. Either way, his path to a roster spot in Philadelphia just got harder and it was not easy to begin with.

Complete Schedule: 2026 World Baseball Classic

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