The Los Angeles Dodgers took the series finale from the Kansas City Royals, but there was a scare when Miguel Rojas slid into second base and injured the ring finger on his left hand.
During the seventh inning, Rojas tried to advance on a pitch in the dirt, but he was thrown out. Rojas jammed his finger on the play and looked to be in considerable pain.
Rojas stayed in the game for the bottom of the seventh inning, and of course the first ball in play was hit to him, but he made the play cleanly. After that, Rojas came out of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, replaced by Hyeseong Kim at second base.
The veteran infielder said his finger was sore and he didn’t want to risk injuring it further, which is why he came out of the game, via SportsNet LA:
“It’s kind of sore. Got tagged, but didn’t know if I jammed it with the bag or if it was the tag. But it was on my finger, so it’s pretty sore. It was swelling up on me after that inning, and felt like I should be smart, take care of it, put some ice on it and try to calm the inflammation. Maybe not take another at-bat and make it worse. That’s why I came out of the game.”
At first, Rojas thought he dislocated or fractured his finger, but after getting it checked by the trainer, they determined that was not the case. Instead, Rojas just suffered a jammed finger and was relieved he avoided a more serious injury:
“That’s exactly what I was thinking, because I had the same play, and I dislocated it and had a fracture in the other finger in 2022. So I was thinking about that. I’m glad it wasn’t dislocated. It was just a really bad jam, and I think I escaped a bad situation there.”
Losing Rojas would have been difficult for the Dodgers as his production has improved recently and he has been a valuable contributor both on offense and defense off the bench. In his last 15 games, Rojas is hitting .320/.393/.640 and also went 2-for-2 with an RBI and walk against the Royals.
He has seen time on defense at shortstop, second base and third base this season, while also filling in on the mound to eat some innings in blowout situations.
Miguel Rojas finding success in new role
Rojas began the year in a rough patch as he was adjusting to a new role with less playing time. But since then, he has made some adjustments in the cage and found more opportunities to play against left-handed pitchers.
“It’s just really hard to come off the bench,” Rojas recently said. “Even though you you always want to be there and show up whenever you have the opportunity to play against a lefty, it’s hard to get in rhythm and sometimes you just have to wait for the good wave.
“With the track record, you know the season is not over after one month, and don’t jump into conclusions that you can’t do it anymore, or anything like that. Just stay true to yourself and believe in myself.”
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