Dodgers News: Andrew Friedman Doesn’t Have an Answer to Fix Chris Taylor’s Struggles

The Los Angeles Dodgers lineup is built to be top-heavy, which has placed most of the blame for their poor performances lately on the bottom third.

The No. 7 through No. 9 spots in the Dodgers’ lineup are responsible for 80 strikeouts collectively. The team leads the National League with 226 strikeouts, but the latter third has been awful — a .168 batting average with six doubles, five home runs and 25 RBIs. 

One of those struggling batters is Chris Taylor, who is off to a 2-for-38 start and has been cringeworthy at times.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman addressed Taylor’s extreme slump with Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register on Monday.

“CT is in a real funk,” Friedman said. “He is such a grinder and such a good baseball player and we all feel for him. What the exact right answer is, I don’t know. But I know that he is doing everything he can to get out of it. … I don’t know what the answer is.”

Friedman wouldn’t say how long the Dodgers will wait out his current funk but manager Dave Roberts told reporters during the weekend series against the New York Mets that typically he would give veterans 100 at-bats before re-evaluating them.

“I have no idea how to answer that right now,” Friedman said. “I would bet that it’s a moot question, that he will grind and figure out a way out of this.”

Taylor is in the third year of a four-year, $60 million contract and has been prone to slumps throughout his career. However, this one feels different.

Hopefully, his two-RBI single on Saturday night is the beginning of his breakout or else he might run out of time.

Photo Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Have you subscribed to our YouTube Channel? Subscribe and hit that notification bell to stay up to date on all the latest Dodgers news, rumors, interviews, livestreams, and more!