The Los Angeles Dodgers will be without a key depth piece for Game 4 of the National League Division Series after utility man Miguel Rojas tweaked his lower back.
Rojas left Game 3 against the Atlanta Braves in the top of the 8th inning after fouling off a pitch from relief pitcher Brent Suter. Rojas immediately clutched at his back during the at-bat and was eventually replaced by Tommy Edman.
He would not return to the game.
Though he left during an at-bat, Rojas later told reporters the injury happened earlier in the game.
“The tightness started to happen after the play at second base, when I kind of slipped right there with the grass,” Rojas said in the locker room after the game. “You guys see the playing field here is sometimes inconsistent with the grass, because they had new grass in the middle of the year, and we knew in advance it was going to be a factor.”
He said the injury flared up earlier in the game, but he attempted to gut it out because he believed he would be the best hitting option with the lefty Suter coming in. But a hard swing on a foul ball made the pain worse, and he had no choice but to leave the game.
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Rojas wasn’t the only person to run into some issues with the grass at Truist Park.
Earlier in the game, while chasing down a shallow dribbler, starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto slipped in the damp sod, leaving a visible divot and giving him a cleat-full of grass and mud.
The grass and dirt at MLB ballparks is typically sprayed before games to keep it from becoming too dry and compressed and to manage dust. But the grass at Truist for Game 3 looked visibly saturated, and Miguel Rojas believes it had something to do with his injury—officially described as a lower back and hip injury.
Yamamoto, meanwhile, avoided any injury and went on to record another in a growing list of historic playoff performances for the Dodgers, pitching seven innings of one-run ball with 10 strikeouts.
What’s the status of Miguel Rojas’ injury?
It’s unclear when Miguel Rojas will feel healthy enough to return. He told reporters he was looking forward to being ready to go for Game 4 if called upon, but the team ultimately chose caution with the 37-year-old’s recovery.
Manager Dave Roberts said his veteran glue-guy would be “lying low,” and the team would take advantage of its deep bench in the meantime.
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Rojas is in his 13th season in Major League Baseball, and he’s already announced plans to retire at the end of the year and pursue a front office role. With the nature of the MLB playoffs, you never know if your most recent at-bat will be your last.
For Miggy’s sake, here’s hoping he’s got a few more pitches to face. The Dodgers will likely need to advance to the National League Championship Series (or further) to give Rojas a send-off fitting for the World Series hero.
Game 4 of the NLDS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves is scheduled for 3 p.m. PT Wednesday in Atlanta. The game will be broadcast on FS1.
Game 5, if necessary, returns to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday, Oct. 9.
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