Walls will open the season on the 10-day injured list due to a strained right oblique, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Walls had been set to begin the season as the Rays' starting shortstop, but his injury now opens the door for top prospect Carson Williams to run with the job after Williams had initially been dispatched to Triple-A Durham earlier this week. A career .195/.286/.298 hitter across 1,560 plate appearances, Walls was unlikely to hit enough to hold onto the job for long.