by Rowan Kavner
The Dodgers needed a leadoff man with Mookie Betts injured. Chris Taylor, as he’s done so often throughout his Dodger career, answered the call.
Taylor moved atop the Dodger lineup last Monday and stayed in the leadoff spot throughout the week, slashing .414/.433/1.000 with five home runs to earn his first career National League Player of the Week honor. It’s the second time this month a Dodger player has earned the weekly honor after AJ Pollock claimed the award on July 12.
Both of this week’s weekly award winners were recent Dodger super utility players. Boston’s Kiké Hernández was named American League Player of the Week.
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Taylor recorded 12 hits and scored nine runs during the week, posting two multi-homer games, two three-hit games and four multi-hit performances. He began each of the final six games of the week with a hit.
After Taylor hit two home runs to help the Dodgers to a series win Sunday against the Rockies, manager Dave Roberts described the versatile threat as “invaluable” to the team. Taylor has also been filling in at shortstop after injuries to both Corey Seager (fractured hand) and Gavin Lux (strained hamstring).
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“Having players out, your regular players out, for him to step up, play a premium defensive position, have a huge day offensively, take the at-bats, obviously the homers, we needed every bit of it,” Roberts said.
Taylor is batting .354/.391/.646 with six home runs, six doubles, 18 runs and 16 RBI this July, hitting safely in 18 of his 21 games during the month. For the year, he is slashing .284/.380/.497 with 16 home runs. His 73 runs on the season lead the Dodgers and rank second in the NL behind only Fernando Tatis Jr. (76).
“He allows for a lot of other things that people might take for granted,” Roberts said. “In the lineup, can kind of move him around anywhere. Defensively, you can plug him in anywhere and (he can) perform at a high level. He’s an everyday player, an All-Star and we’re lucky to have him.”
Chris Taylor named NL Player of the Week was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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