Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas spoke about the injury which took him out of Saturday’s win over the Chicago White Sox.
During an at-bat in the seventh inning of the game, trainers came out to check on Rojas following a walk. Santiago Espinal took over for Rojas on first and in the field.
Before Sunday’s game, for which he will be available off the bench, Rojas said he has been dealing with a shin issue over the past few days, first noticing it in Pittsburgh after a runner slid into his shin. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports Rojas felt it coming out of the box during that plate appearance, and didn’t want to impact Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s bid for a perfect game.
Yamamoto threw 7.2 perfect innings on Saturday before an error in the bottom of the eighth shut down the prospect of MLB’s first perfect game since 2023. His no-hit bid came to an end the following inning, when he allowed a solo home run—the White Sox’s only run of the night.
Who is Standing in for Miguel Rojas Sunday?
With Rojas on the bench for Sunday’s game, the Dodgers brought in Alex Freeland to start at second for the series finale.
Freeland has regularly played second base for the Dodgers since returning to the big leagues towards the end of May, and likely would have made an appearance in this game regardless of Rojas’ health. He has played 48 games for the Dodgers so far this season, hitting three homers and driving in 14 runs with a .231/.320/.336 slash line for a .656 OPS.
Rojas and Freeland have pretty similar numbers on offense, as Rojas has a .659 OPS with a .260/.322/.337 line, so the Dodgers can hopefully rely on Freeland to perform at a similar level to Rojas while he recovers.
If Rojas’ injury drags into the Dodgers’ next series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, they could also roll out Santiago Espinal to fill in for the veteran. Espinal has been on a tear since the Dodgers re-signed him, and is batting .462 with a .924 OPS through eight games so far in June.
