The Rays have placed shortstop on the 10-day injured list with a left groin strain, the team announced. In a corresponding move, outfielder was recalled from Triple-A. Walls has been Tampa Bays primary shortstop this year, with 77 starts and 94 appearances at the position. It was particularly noteworthy that he still got his fair share of starts at shortstop when both he and were healthy. Kim signed a two-year, $29MM deal with the Rays over the offseason (a sizeable deal by their standards) with the expectation that he would become the starting shortstop. While injuries have limited Kim to just 18 games this year, the fact that Walls has shared the position with Kim lately shows how highly the Rays must think of Walls defense. Indeed, Walls was scheduled to start at shortstop on Saturday before he was scratched from the lineup. Kim has since started at shortstop in each of the teams last three games. Manager explained that Walls still felt closer to 75% rather than 100% before todays matchup with the Athletics, so the team decided he needed a couple days to let [his groin injury] continue Robert Suarez Jersey to calm down (per ). Tampa Bay will be just fine in the middle infield in Wallss absence. Kim can play shortstop full-time (with around as a backup), and All-Star can return to playing second base on a daily basis. Lowe had recently started a handful of games at first base and DH to make room for Kim at second base when Walls was starting at short. The problem is that with Lowe at second base and at first, the Rays are left without a good option to DH. All-Star is on the IL with (hence Dazs return to first base). He remains hopeful hell return this season (per ), but its far from a guarantee. For as long as Aranda is out of the equation, the Rays are at their best with Walls and Kim sharing middle infield duties while Lowe and Daz cover first base and DH. They have not yet offered a timeline for Wallss return, but they will hope his groin strain proves to be minor. Entering play today, the Rays are 5.5 games back of the last AL Wild Card spot. Theyre a talented team, with a +43 run differential that is far more impre sive than their sub-.500 record. However, theyre running out of time to make a comeback. Both and have their postseason odds below 5%. With Aranda out indefinitely and Shane McLanahan , they cant afford for much else to go wrong. Luis Campusano Jersey