Ben

Williamson

Williamson winds up on the injured list with a hamstring strain that he suffered during Wednesday’s series finale against the Rockies. He’ll miss a couple of weeks at a minimum. Carson Williams was recalled from Triple-A Durham to take his place on the Rays’ active roster.

Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters Williamson will undergo further evaluation and testing after suffering the injury in the ninth inning of the contest. The 25-year-old infielder was spotted on crutches in the locker room afterwards. Meanwhile, infielder Carson Williams was pulled from Triple-A Durham’s contest and appears headed back to the majors for Friday’s game against the Mariners.

It’s the fourth straight game that Walls has missed after hyperextending a couple of fingers on his left hand on Wednesday. He’s still considered day-to-day and isn’t expected to require a trip to the injured list. Ben Williamson will once again start at shortstop in his absence and will bat sixth against Guardians’ left-hander Parker Messick.

Walls remains stapled to Tampa Bay’s bench for the third straight contest after hyperextending a couple fingers on his left hand earlier this week. It’ll be Ben Williamson taking another turn at shortstop in his absence.

As expected, manager Kevin Cash said last night that he would probably need a few days off. Ben Williamson is filling in at shortstop against Jays RHP Shane Bieber.

Williamson had a perfect day at the plate, collecting hits in all four at-bats. He started with a double to drive in a run in the second inning, then singled and stole a base in the fourth. After knocking a base hit in the sixth, he singled for his fourth hit and scored a run in the eighth. The 25-year-old infielder is hitting .253/.321/.338 with two homers, 26 runs scored, and 23 RBI across 219 plate appearances.

Williamson hit a ball 394 feet off Drew Pometanz in the fourth for his second major league homer. He had one in 295 plate appearances with Seattle last season, and now he has one in 167 plate appearances this year. But while power obviously isn’t Williamson’s game, his OBP is a solid .331. His defense hasn’t graded out as highly as expected, but the Rays have had him start eight of their last 11 games: four at shortstop and four at second base.

Williamson put Tampa Bay ahead for good with a 103.4 mph double into the left-center field gap with two outs in the fourth inning. The 25-year-old has put together a strong Rays debut, hitting .263/.344/.328 with 18 RBI and five steals through 48 games. He doesn’t offer enough upside to matter in most fantasy leagues, but he’s been a nice addition as a role player in Tampa Bay.

Taylor Walls left yesterday‘s game with hamstring tightness, so the Rays will give him a day off and let Williamson start at shortstop. Walls is allegedly available off the bench tonight, so this might be just a one game situation with Williamson as the starting shortstop.

No surprise here after Walls made an early exit from Monday’s series opener with left hamstring tightness. The 29-year-old shortstop has been battling hamstring issues for over a week at this juncture. Ben Williamson takes over at shortstop in his absence.