Dodgers Shortstop Position Takes Another Hit With Latest Injury

The injuries just keep on hitting.

The Dodgers shortstop position may just be cursed. Miguel Rojas is the latest Dodger shortstop to come down with an injury as, on Wednesday, the Dodgers announced he was going on the 10-day injured list.

The #Dodgers have recalled infielder Yonny Hernández and placed infielder Miguel Rojas on the injured list with a left hamstring strain.

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) April 19, 2023

Rojas was named the starting shortstop after Gavin Lux went down with a torn ACL in spring training, and hasn't gotten off to the greatest start this season. To be fair, though, the Dodgers acquired him solely to provide infield depth — not to play 100-plus games as the starting shortstop.

Nonetheless, Rojas has been dealing with an ongoing hamstring issue and left Tuesday's game in the 5th inning. The Dodgers ultimately decided to put him on the IL, making their already thin shortstop position even thinner.

Chris Taylor, who has played a fair amount of shortstop this season when Rojas was dealing with the minor injury, is also injured, dealing with a potential oblique injury. He's not expected to go on the IL, however, he also may be unavailable to play this weekend.

That leaves Luke Williams as the likely starting shortstop, unless Dave Roberts pulls the trigger on putting Mookie Betts at the position, something he hinted at on Tuesday. Also, the team called up Yonny Hernandez, who could theoretically play the position, as well.

Overall, things aren't looking great for the Dodgers at shortstop. The best solution may be Betts, as it would also help clear up the logjam the team has in the outfield. However, who knows if he can actually play the position well, let alone for an extended period of time. Then again, there are few things Mookie can't do, so I wouldn't put it past him.

As for Rojas, Roberts provided an update after Wednesday's game, saying he doesn't expect Rojas to be out for an extended period of time.

“Our hope is that in 10 days he’ll be back with us," Roberts said. "Miguel wanted to play, felt he could kind of manage it, but we’ve tried that and it hasn’t fared well. So we just felt to kind of nip it, get him on the IL and travel with us, and get him back when the IL stint is up.”

Dave Roberts on Max Scherzer's ejection and his takeaways from the series against the #Mets. pic.twitter.com/f59cNuWaEp

— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) April 19, 2023

Rojas will be eligible to return from the IL at the end of April, when the Dodgers are playing the St. Louis Cardinals in Los Angeles. Hopefully he's feeling better by then, and able to return to the Dodgers lineup.