Chris Taylor has been on the 10-day injured list since July 6 due to a fracture in his left foot, but he is inching closer to returning to the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup.
Taylor began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday and started in left field, going 0-for-3 at the plate. He was back in the lineup the following day and slugged two home runs as part of a 3-for-4 effort.
Although it was initially expected Taylor would be on his rehab assignment for one week, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said a return during this weekend’s series against the San Diego Padres is possible, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com:
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Taylor is “close” to returning to the Dodgers and he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the outfielder was activated at some point in the series against the Padres, which starts Friday at Dodger Stadium.
Taylor didn’t resume baseball activities until the middle of July, and it was only last week he began running. That was considered the final hurdle to clear before joining a Minor League affiliate for the start of a rehab assignment.
In other injury news, Roberts revealed Dustin May will need to make at least two more rehab starts before rejoining the Dodgers:
May will go through at least two more rehab starts, according to manager Dave Roberts.
May joined the Dodgers’ top Minor League affiliate last week for an outing and second overall rehab start after pitching in the Arizona Complex League. May allowed just one run but also issued three walks and only pitched two innings in his first start for Oklahoma City.
May was improved his second time out, collecting six strikeouts over three scoreless innings. May’s velocity neared triple digits and he didn’t issue any walks while holding the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Houston Astros affiliate) to two hits.
The right-hander then pitched four innings on Wednesday, retiring 11 of the first 12 batters faced, and finishing with six strikeouts.
Chris Taylor potentially playing second base
While Roberts had previously indicated Taylor was unlikely to play the infield this season due to his elbow not quite being 100% healthy, the Dodgers’ approach has shifted.
“So obviously, as we’ve kind of gone through the season, we just feel that he can handle a different arm angle from the infield to the outfield,” Roberts recently said. “So just having him taking grounders in the infield also gives us a few more options.”
If Taylor is to play the infield, it primarily will come at second base. The 31-year-old has been limited to the three outfield spots this year, but in past seasons has played every position with the exception of first base, catcher and pitcher.
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