Carl Crawford, with his $21-million salary, bats ninth for Dodgers

The Dodgers are the most expensive team in baseball by a comfortable margin. They have no shortage of expensive players.

So the lineup Wednesday was a particularly novelty: The most expensive starter, Carl Crawford, was batting last. And not out of defensive necessity, either. He was the designated hitter.

Crawford will make $21,607,143 this season. It is rare for a team’s most expensive batter hit in the No. 9 spot.

But it is a situation brought on, first, by the game in an American League ballpark, meaning a pitcher didn’t occupy the last spot in the order. And an injury to first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who has the highest contract among Dodgers position players, meant Crawford was the most expensive starter.

Manager Dave Roberts said he chose Crawford as the designated hitter because he predicted that “Carl will give us good at bats.”

Batting him ninth, he said, made sense because of Crawford’s speed.

“Having the double-leadoff, having the guy that can run a little bit,” Roberts said.

Consistency has eluded Crawford this season. His batting average has hovered around .200. His on-base percentage is below .250.

Crawford has been slotted in the No. 9 spot 36 other times in his career, but only three times since 2003 — twice in 2014 and once earlier this season.

Struggling outfielder Yasiel Puig, whose on-base plus slugging percentage is well below .700, batted eighth for the first time in his career.

Gonzalez’s back improves

The Dodgers needed to clear space. They were calling up right-hander Mike Bolsinger to make the start Tuesday against the Angels. Someone needed to vacate a roster spot.

Could it be Gonzalez? On Tuesday, Roberts didn’t rule a trip to the disabled list for the first baseman, who left Monday’s game against the Angels with a sore lower back.

But Gonzalez was in the clubhouse on Wednesday, even if he wasn’t in the lineup. The Dodgers chose instead to option Charlie Culberson to triple-A Oklahoma City.

Roberts said Gonzalez’s back had improved.

“Realistically, I see him in the lineup Thursday or Friday,” Roberts said. “That’s probably realistic. I don’t think it’s a DL situation.”

Short hops

Bolsinger’s promotion also meant the Dodgers would have a six-man rotation. Roberts said the Dodgers “haven’t talked about it too much,” but he anticipated they would drop the extra starter and return to a five-man rotation after Bolsinger’s start.

Follow Zach Helfand on Twitter: @zhelfand