Chris Taylor has been a key member of the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup for several years, but he is currently mired in the worst slump of his career to begin a season.
The 33-year-old entered play Monday batting a paltry .074 (4-for-54) with no extra-base hits, five RBI and 26 strikeouts in 24 games.
Taylor at one point was hitless in 31 consecutive at-bats before ending the skid last month, but it has not translated to further success. As a result, his playing time has significantly diminished in recent weeks.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he is trying to find at-bats for Taylor to help him get back on track, via Doug Padilla of the Southern California News Group:
“I’m trying to find at-bats and a runway for Chris to get back on track,” Roberts said.
Roberts penciled Taylor into the Dodgers lineup for Sunday’s series finale against the Atlanta Braves. He went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts while facing the left-hander Max Fried.
“I don’t think anyone’s more frustrated than Chris is,” Roberts said of Taylor last month. “And like I said, all spring and Seoul, he was squaring the baseball up, taking really good at-bats, minimizing the swing and miss. And once we started the season, it’s been different.
“He has been a streaky guy, and my trust hasn’t wavered in him. But we’ve got to keep running him out there, and hopefully something clicks.”
While prolonged slumps can be difficult on players, Roberts praised Taylor for the way he has gone about himself. “He handles it really well. He comes in every day fresh, prepared,” Roberts said.
“With Chris, he’s not a guy that I really have to kind of coddle or pump up. He’s pretty turnkey as far as how he prepares each day, very levelheaded. He’s very mechanical, and you just hope that a swing, an at-bat kind of gets him on track.”
Chris Taylor off to better start in May
While Taylor has struggled to get hits to fall, he has reached base three times in seven plate appearances to begin the month of May.
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