The Los Angeles Dodgers are in an enviable position. They are a team and a farm system filled with star power of which other teams could only achieve in their dreams.
But what happens when one of your past stars, a perennial fan favorite, just can’t get anything going at the plate a couple months into the season?
Chris Taylor has had some huge moments in his Dodgers career, most notably in the playoffs. His walk-off homer against the St Louis Cardinals that got them past the Wild Card round in 2021. His incredible run saving catch in Milwaukee in Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS. His leadoff home run in Game 1 of the 2017 WS.
Since his arrival to the team in 2016, he has been a key piece in the giant cog that is the Los Angeles Dodgers. His versatility slots him in almost any position in the field and in the lineup.
Unfortunately, the season has not started out as Chris Taylor had hoped. He currently sports a .071/.209/.071/.298 slash line with 28 strikeouts in 68 plate appearances, with no extra base hits. His batting average lands him as the worst in all of the Majors.
Because of his abysmal play, Taylor has only been in one game since the beginning of May. He currently is not slated to be in a game until Thursday, which would have been 10 days since he saw playing time.
In the coming days, the Dodgers will be forced to make a roster move, as veteran Jason Heyward is expected to return some time next week from his stint on the IL.
One option is to send down one of either James Outman, or Andy Pages.
Outman has also been struggling at the plate this season. He is batting .150, which is slightly better than Taylor, but is batting .095 over his last seven games.
Pages took the league by storm when he was first called up April 16. He hit .300 in the month of April and got to as high as a .338 BA, but also has cooled off at the plate as of late. Pages has only four hits scattered over his last nine games.
Sending either back to the minors to work on their offense seems like the most logical thing to do at this point. But that still won’t fix what’s going on with Taylor.
Another option is to send him down the minors for awhile to work on his swing. As he has more than five years service time, he would have to accept that placement. He could have a new found ‘injury’, take a beat and do rehab to get himself right. Or, the Dodgers could cut him from the team.
For his part, Taylor’s offense has always been streaky. And while he’s never been a high average kind of guy, he’s only batted .228 over the last two seasons.
Taylor is currently in year three of his four year, $60 deal with the Dodgers, with a team option for 2026. If things keep going as is that won’t even be considered. He has always been one to tinker with his swing, and although he had been working all offseason and through spring training on it, at this point, nothing is working.
Sitting atop the NL West with a 7.5 game lead, and with all that star power, the Dodgers can allow Taylor to work through his struggles. But how long they allow him that grace has yet to be seen.
Has Father Time just caught up with him, or will he turn it around? Fans hope there’s at least one more version of playoff heroics from CT3 still in there somewhere.