Going into the 2018 season, Chris Taylor was the unquestioned leadoff hitter for the Los Angeles Dodgers in large part because of playing that role during a breakout 2017 campaign.
After a slow start in which he struggled to get on base, Taylor lost his standing as the leadoff man. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts opted to move Taylor down for a handful of games in an effort to take some pressure off him.
Taylor responded well as his bat has heated up in recent weeks, resulting in him moving back up to his familiar spot at the top of the lineup the last few games.
He rewarded Roberts for the decision by hitting his third leadoff home run of the season on Saturday night against San Diego, although the Padres wound up coming away with a 7-5 victory to snap the Dodgers three-game winning streak.
Taylor went 2-for-5 in the loss, and after he commented on how Roberts’ confidence has helped him move on from the early-season struggles, via Cary Osborne of Dodger Insider:
“It’s huge,” Taylor said of Roberts’ confidence in him. “Understanding that no matter what, he’s going to stick with you, it takes some of the pressure off and gives you a little leeway to play relaxed.”
Taylor responded with another big game on Sunday, going 2-for-3 with a walk. After Saturday night’s blast, Taylor now has seven home runs on the season to go along with a .248/.338/.450 slashline. Those aren’t quite the numbers he put up last season when he was a catalyst for the Dodgers offense, but his production is certainly trending in the right direction.
With Taylor back at the top of the lineup and Justin Turner, who hit his first home run of the season on Saturday, batting third, the Dodgers lineup should be a very formidable one moving forward.
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