Miguel Rojas #11 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits against the Detroit Tigers in the seventh inning of a baseball game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Wednesday, September 20, 2023. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
The position of shortstop comes with a lot of responsibilities.
Play-by-play announcer isn't usually one of them, but the Dodgers' Miguel Rojas smoothly handled both live coverage and a sharply hit ground ball Sunday at Dodger Stadium.
Rojas was wearing a microphone for ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball broadcast and speaking with the announcers, telling a story about teammate Kiké Hernández, when the Giants' Thairo Estrada smacked a ground ball in his direction in the second inning.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
The shortstop apologized as he deftly stepped to his left, fielded the ground ball on a hop and tossed it to first base for an out.
"Sorry, guys, I need to make this play real quick," Rojas said.
Rojas was acquired by the Dodgers in an off-season trade. He was expected to be a utility player, but an injury to Gavin Lux required him to play a larger role as a starter.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
"I got a great opportunity to be in the same locker room and same field with a lot of great players, and learning from Martín Prado and Adrían González and all of those guys early in my career helped me to change myself into not just a baseball player but a leader," Rojas said during the broadcast.
The Dodgers won Sunday's game 3-2 in dramatic style with a single in the 10th by Chris Taylor to score the winning run.
