ST. PETERSBURG — Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls returned to the starting lineup Thursday after being activated from the 10-day injured list, giving the club its premier defensive weapon back with the playoffs less than two weeks away.

Walls, 30, sustained a right hip flexor strain 12 days earlier, an injury he described as “a pop or a bomb going off” in his hip. He couldn’t lift his leg to get out of bed the following morning and initially doubted he could be fully healthy before the postseason. But rapid progress changed the timeline.

“I felt like we’ve done a great job of just recovering, throwing a lot of things at it, seeing how I respond, and keeping those things in rotation that I respond well to,” Walls said. “Considering what I felt at the time and how I woke up the next day, to think that I’d be back in 10, 11 days, I would say that was probably a long shot in my head.”

Walls batted ninth and played shortstop for Thursday’s series finale against the Athletics at Tropicana Field. His return matters most on the defensive side of the ball: through 117 games this season, Walls has posted 20 defensive runs saved — tied for third-most in Major League Baseball — and a 2.7 defensive WAR, per Baseball Reference, tied with Milwaukee’s Brice Turang for the best in the majors. Statcast rates his fielding less favorably at minus-3 outs above average and minus-3 fielding run value, but the Rays pitching staff sees the difference his glove makes every night.

Left-hander Ian Seymour said the shortstop’s positioning borders on uncanny. “It just seems like the ball — he’s always there,” Seymour said. “Sometimes I’ll watch just what he’s doing instead of the pitcher in the game, and he’s moving at all times. It’s a talent I don’t think anyone else in baseball has. So we’re happy to have him back.”

Walls carries a career 67 OPS+, a number that won’t turn heads. But the shortstop said his value extends well beyond the batter’s box. “I just think in general that there’s a lot of really good players that this game has that maybe don’t hit the long ball or do something offensively every night that wows you that can change a game,” Walls said.

The Rays open postseason play in roughly two weeks, and Walls’ availability gives Tampa Bay its full defensive alignment up the middle heading into October.