Miguel Rojas injury further indicts Dodgers’ poor decision making at SS position

The Los Angeles Dodgers' poor decision making at shortstop has become even more magnified after the latest injury to Miguel Rojas.

On Wednesday, the Dodgers placed Rojas on the 10-day IL with a hamstring strain and activated infielder Yonny Hernandez. Forgive us if we don't have much faith in a player whose career OPS is just .518.

Rojas was acquired by LA in an offseason trade after Trea Turner inked a $300 million deal with the reigning National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies. This marked the second consecutive offseason that the Dodgers lost their starting shortstop from the previous year.

Miguel Rojas injury further indicts Dodgers’ poor decision making at shortstop position

Not many Dodgers fans were going to complain after Turner took over for Corey Seager following the 2021 season. Sure, it would've been great to have both Seager and Turner up the middle last year, but LA wasn't going to pay the steep cost it was going to take to keep Seager in a Dodgers uniform.

However, after letting Turner go this past offseason, Los Angeles was quite content to enter the 2023 season with Gavin Lux as the team's starting shortstop (which was already a questionable move). One torn ACL later, and LA was forced to pivot to Miguel Rojas, who hasn't been the same player for the last two seasons. Rojas posted a slash line of .251/.303/.351 during his last two campaigns with the Miami Marlins.

Chris Taylor has seen some time at shortstop, but the Dodgers' super utility player is nursing some injuries of his own and is better utilized all over the diamond. Not to mention, he's also been awful offensively.

Believe it or not, this latest injury could force Mookie Betts to play shortstop. According to Mike Giovanna of the Los Angeles Times, manager Dave Roberts would have started Betts at shortstop against the New York Mets on Wednesday had the former MVP not been on the paternity list.

All of this illustrates that the Dodgers were poorly prepared to handle the shortstop position in 2023. LA has no real shortstop prodigy in the organization's farm system, so perhaps Andrew Friedman needs to get on the horn and find a suitable shortstop to take over for the remainder of the season if this revolving door of mediocrity continues.