That’s something Rojas, 23, is still learning, and the Phillies are willing to live with it. His defense will have to be a constant, so the miscues are surprising.

“I think he’s played fine,” Thomson said. “But there’s been some plays where maybe he was a little bit too aggressive. But we have to take it with a grain of salt because he gets to more baseballs than 99 percent of outfielders in the game. So, there’s going to be a chance for more mistakes.”

Last year, Rojas made it look easy. It hasn’t always felt that way in 2024.

There is an unusual layer to this: Major League Baseball forced Rojas to switch gloves late in April. The league, according to two major-league sources, sent the Phillies a memo because Rojas’ silver glove — the one he used all spring and for the first 21 games of the season — was not a legal color. The glove made it too difficult for umpires to judge potential diving catches.

Rojas used the old glove in an April 20 win. The next day, he took a brand new red one to center. He didn’t see a ball until the sixth inning and, when he did, he did a double-take to check that the glove functioned.

It still looks like the new glove hasn’t been broken in. Rojas did not mention the new glove after Wednesday’s game. “I just have to catch those balls,” Rojas said. “There’s no excuse for me.” The glove was not the issue on a bad route in an April 28 game that MLB’s tracking system marked as one of his worst misplays. Or another questionable route four days before that in Cincinnati. But a catchable ball dinged off his glove in Miami last weekend.

Rojas has overrun some balls — there was one against the Giants earlier this month. That play, according to the league’s tracking algorithm, had a 65 percent catch probability.

The ball that Rojas chased into the right-center gap Wednesday night against the Mets only for it to deflect off his glove had a 15 percent catch probability.

Rojas’ worst mistake came in the first inning of that game. It led to an unearned run. It was as routine a play as there is — even in rainy conditions.

“And,” Figueroa said, “I tell him I don’t care if there’s a hurricane or there’s a tornado — any ball in the air, you’re going to catch it. So we’re just going to continue working.”

With Rojas out of the lineup Thursday, Figueroa urged him to power shag for both batting practice groups. Rojas did that, sprinting around center field. The Phillies felt Rojas had gotten too mechanical at the plate in April and, when he is at his best, he is playing free. The same goes for roaming center field. In every drill, Figueroa is trying to eliminate panic. He studies Rojas during the drills to see if he’s tense.

Do elite defenders go through slumps?

“No,” Figueroa said. “No, no, no. It’s just … you have to concentrate.”

The Phillies hope a few hiccups reinforce that. The mistakes did not cost them games. They should serve as a reminder to a talented fielder who is learning what big-league adversity is.

“The one thing I always harp on is ball security,” Figueroa said. “You can run a thousand yards. But what happens at the very end? Catch the ball.”