Rays place SS Taylor Walls (oblique) on IL; Carson Williams on deck

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls will start the season on the injured list due to a right oblique injury.

Walls, 29, sustained the injury in the batting cage on Tuesday and underwent imaging on Wednesday. President of baseball operations Erik Neander said Thursday there isn't yet a timetable for his return but Walls could potentially miss a month of the season.

"We'll kind of sort through it over the next few days to determine what's the best way to break," Neander said.

The light-hitting Walls is a stellar defender. He batted .220 with four homers, 38 RBIs and 14 steals in 101 games last season, his fifth campaign with the Rays.

The Rays will likely turn to prospect Carson Williams to be the Opening Day shortstop against the host St. Louis Cardinals on March 26. Williams is rated Tampa Bay's top prospect by MLB Pipeline.

Williams, 22, batted .172 with five homers and 12 RBIs in 32 games with the Rays in 2025. He also struggled to hit for average at Triple-A Durham as he batted .213 while having 23 homers, 55 RBIs and 22 steals in 111 games.

Williams is waiting to see how it all plays out.

"I am just trying to play baseball," Williams told reporters. "If they want me up there, that's awesome, and I'm ready to go for them. If I go to Durham, I'm going to go put more work in and make sure I'm ready when they give me the call."

--Field Level Media