Miguel Rojas sends heartbreaking message to Dodgers fans after father's passing

Miguel Rojas was away from the Dodgers during their second game against the Blue Jays, for what Dave Roberts called a "family issue." The Dodgers expected to be without him for their series finale in Toronto but resolved to play a man short instead of calling up a replacement.

On Wednesday, Rojas posted a long message on his Instagram story, sharing that his father had passed away on Tuesday.

"With immense pain on behalf of the entire Rojas family, I must leet everyone who had the opportunity to know and spend time with my father Miguel Rojas "Micky" know that yesterday, April 7, he passed away suddenly in the afternoon," Rojas wrote (translated from Spanish). "I want to sincerely thank everyone who has reached out to me and my entire family to show their affection and let us know how loved my father was throughout his life. May God receive him in His glory and may he rest in peace."

Although the Dodgers expected to go ahead without Rojas, he is in the starting lineup for Wednesday afternoon's game.

Miguel Rojas shares news of his father's passing ahead of return to Dodgers in Toronto

No one would've blamed Rojas if he missed not just the end of this series but a few more games in the wake of this news. Roberts told reporters ahead of the Blue Jays finale that he does expect Rojas to indeed miss some time and go onto the bereavement list, but Rojas approached him personally and asked to be in Wednesday's lineup.

This series means a lot to all of the Dodgers, but especially to Rojas, who was at the tail end of his 13th year in the majors when he hit the home run, against the Blue Jays, that immediately defined his career. This is his last season with the Dodgers — he's already said he plans to retire at the end of this year — and although Toronto is no threat to LA in their current form, it makes sense that he would want to be there to close out this series.

Our condolences go out to Rojas and his family.