Dee Gordon Placed On Disabled List With Right Shoulder Contusion; Justin Sellers Expected To Be Called Up

The bad news train made an extra stop at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday as, in addition to a six-run lead gone awry against the Phillies, the Dodgers have lost their shortstop for a few weeks. After the loss to the Phillies, the Dodgers placed Dee Gordon on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder contusion.

Gordon had an MRI this morning to examine his shoulder, which he aggravated while swinging a bat at the plate in the eighth inning Tuesday night. Gordon is the 16th Dodger to be placed on the disabled list this season, and the team has had 24 different trips to the DL.

The corresponding roster move likely won't be announced until Friday, but the Dodgers do have some options. The likelihood is that Jamey Carroll will play everyday at shortstop, but the Dodgers currently don't otherwise have much relevant shortstop experience on the active roster. Aaron Miles played in 14 total games at shortstop in 2009 and 2010 combined for a total of 63 innings. Eugenio Velez started his minor league career as a shortstop, but has played all of one minor league game at the position in the last five years.

So while the Dodgers don't necessarily have to call up a shortstop to replace Gordon, someone with middle infield experience would be preferred. That gives Ivan DeJesus the edge over Russ Mitchell in the battle of Triple A infielders who are on the major league roster. DeJesus has played 11 games at shortstop and 53 games at second base for Albuquerque this season, while Mitchell is a corner man.

Another option is Justin Sellers, who has played 45 games at shortstop for the Isotopes this season. Sellers, hitting .304/.400/.537 in Triple A this season, is not on the 40-man roster but that's not much of a hindrance if the Dodgers wanted to bring him up. The Dodgers currently have one open spot on the 40-man, and could easily transfer Jon Garland, Jonathan Broxton, Rubby De La Rosa, or Vicente Padilla to the 60-day disabled list to create more spots should they so choose. If my math is correct Sellers, a 2005 draftee, would be a six-year minor league free agent in November is he isn't added to the 40-man roster, so if the Dodgers plan to add the 25-year old Sellers this offseason anyway, calling him up now is an easy call.

For what it's worth, DeJesus is playing shortstop for Albuquerque tonight and Sellers is not playing. The Isotopes, like the Dodgers, are off Thursday.

UPDATE: Per Chris Jackson of the Albuquerque Examiner, it's looking like Sellers will get the call:

Versatile infielder Justin Sellers was unavailable to play as he was expected to be called up at some point in the next 48 hours by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who put shortstop Dee Gordon on the 15-day disabled list with an injured right shoulder. That move was not yet official.