Dodgers’ shortstop roulette lands on Luke Williams
Signed in February and called up Tuesday, the Dana Hills High grad gets the start Wednesday after injuries to Chris Taylor and Miguel Rojas
LOS ANGELES — Less than 20 games into a season filled with high hopes, the Dodgers’ starting shortstop was … Luke Williams.
If it seems like a startling turn of events, consider Williams’ own family. The path to Williams’ first start at shortstop for the Dodgers developed so quickly that his father wasn’t able to get away from work commitments Wednesday and drive from the family’s Laguna Niguel home to witness the occasion.
Claimed off waivers from the Miami Marlins in November, Williams was non-tendered and became a free agent less than two weeks later. He came back to the organization on a free-agent deal with the Dodgers in early February.
His circuitous path was only getting started.
Williams, 26, had his contract purchased by the Dodgers on Tuesday when Mookie Betts went on the paternity list. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, right-hander Daniel Hudson was moved to the 60-day injured list as he continues to work through the rehab process from a knee injury.
The twists and turns continued, from Gavin Lux’s season-ending knee injury, to a pair of recent lower leg injuries for Miguel Rojas to an oblique injury this week for Chris Taylor.
Rojas went on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with a left hamstring strain, while the team recalled infielder Yonny Hernandez. Rojas already has played through a groin strain earlier in the season.
Manager Dave Roberts admitted Wednesday that the upheaval of Rojas starting 11 games at short, Taylor starting seven and Williams now starting one is not ideal.
“It’s not typical of a ball club as far as kind of sharing time at that position. It’s usually at other positions,” Roberts said. “But I think (it’s) to be able to manage Miguel’s workload, given the soft-tissue stuff he’s had since spring training, and managing (Taylor’s) workload. I think those two guys taking it down, all things being equal, I think makes sense. But that’s kind of where we’re at.”
Add in rookie Miguel Vargas, who is learning to play second base, and it has left the Dodgers vulnerable at a key area on defense: middle infield.
“I think Chris has played well at short when he’s been in there and I think Miguel has played well,” Roberts said. “… I think the middle infield is certainly not the problem of inconsistencies with our team.”
Williams, a Dana Hills High product, played in parts of the past two seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants and Miami Marlins (137 games). He batted .375 with a 1.151 OPS in 14 games at Oklahoma City before he was recalled and made his Dodgers debut as a pinch-hitter for Rojas in the fifth inning Tuesday, going 0 for 2.
MAKING PROGRESS
Taylor was not available for a second consecutive game after experiencing his oblique discomfort on a throw from left field Monday.
“He’s improved but not enough to be out there,” Roberts said Wednesday morning. “So hopefully over the weekend, he’ll have a chance to get there.”
After playing 148 games in 2021, Taylor was limited to 118 last season, missing a month with a fractured left foot.
Hernandez would not give the Dodgers outfield coverage like Taylor does, but he has played second base, third base and shortstop in his brief 55-game major league career with the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks the past two seasons.
FAMILY TIME
Mookie Betts remained away from the Dodgers for a second consecutive day on paternity leave after his wife, Brianna, gave birth Tuesday to the couple’s second child.
Players are granted three days of paternity leave and Roberts said it remains to be determined if Betts would be on the team flight to Chicago on Wednesday evening. The Dodgers have a four-game series at Wrigley Field that begins Thursday.
Roberts suggested Tuesday that Betts might miss just one game, but his status was updated overnight.
“Right now, we’re just kind of waiting on his decision,” Roberts said.
Roberts also threw Betts’ name into the shortstop mix Tuesday. The Gold Glove Award outfielder has not played shortstop in the major leagues, last playing there when he was starting out in the Boston Red Sox farm system.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (RHP Michael Grove, 0-1, 9.00 ERA) vs. Cubs (RHP Jameson Taillon, 0-2, 4.50 ERA), 4:40 p.m. Thursday, SportsNet LA, 570-AM.