The Los Angeles Dodgers got another tough break on Sunday night when Chris Taylor was hit by a pitch in his left wrist area during the extra-innings affair against the Boston Red Sox.
Taylor initially remained in the game to play the field but was pinch-hit for when his spot in the lineup came up. Initial tests came back negative, but Taylor dealt with continued pain into Monday, which prompted an X-ray.
That revealed a left forearm fracture and led to the Dodgers placing Taylor on the 10-day injured list and recalling Matt Beaty from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Taylor couldn’t definitively say but projected his timetable to be at least one month, according to Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
#Dodgers Chris Taylor said it is a non-displaced fracture on the outside part of his forearm a little up from the wrist. "General timetable is four to six weeks."
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) July 16, 2019
Last year, Justin Turner began the season on the 10-day injured list and missed six weeks after suffering a left wrist fracture near the end of Spring Training.
With Corey Seager recently missing the last month after suffering a left hamstring strain, Taylor stepped up as the starting shortstop and was swinging the bat the best he had all season.
In his last 24 games, Taylor hit .363/.443/.613 with nine doubles, three home runs and 18 RBI. Overall in 90 games this season, he is batting .261/.334/.452 with 20 doubles, eight home runs and 41 RBI.
With a little more than two months remaining in the regular season, Taylor should be able to return in time to get a few weeks of game action to be ready for a likely postseason berth. It will be interesting to see if the Dodgers acquired a right-handed bat before the July 31 trade deadline though as insurance in case Taylor is not able to return by October.
One positive Taylor has going for him is that the fracture is in his left forearm, so he can keep his throwing arm in shape while he is out.
Considering Seager is not yet able to play every day, Kiké Hernandez will likely see increased time at shortstop while Taylor is out, and Beaty could receive more regular starts as well.
