Dodgers News: Chris Taylor Addresses His Tough Start to Season, How He’s Battling Through It
Chris Taylor has had a rough beginning to his 2023 season. Through 16 games, Taylor was hitting just .111. He entered Tuesday’s series opener against the Pirates with just two hits in his past 25 at-bats — and both those hits were home runs.
Taylor wasn’t just going to give up, even though his struggles dated back to well before the start of this season.
Taylor continued to work, and finally found some success in Pittsburgh. On Tuesday, he went 3-for-4, reached in all four plate appearances and hit the go-ahead three-run home run in the 8th inning of the Dodgers 8-7 win. He was all smiles with SNLA’s Kirsten Watson after the game.
“It’s no secret I’ve been grinding a little bit and just to help the team out it felt really good to come up big in a spot like that,” Taylor said. “Results always help. It helps you relax a little bit, feel a little looser, less tense. So that’s good.”
Via SNLA
Taylor seemed to be a little less tense on Wednesday, as the success somewhat continued. The Dodgers offense mustered just four hits against the Pirates, but Taylor got one of them, going 1-for-3 with a single, just his fourth of the season.
“It’s not the first time I’ve had a slow start to the season,” Taylor said after Tuesday’s game. “It’s always hard. Everybody wants to start the year off well. You’ve just got to kind of take it one day at a time and try to focus on helping the team win any way you can, try to take the pressure off yourself. That’s what I’ve been trying to do.”
Bill Plunkett, Orange County Register
It’s seemed to work thus far in Pittsburgh, and Taylor will hope to continue that into the series finale on Thursday morning. His manager, Dave Roberts, has been impressed with the work he’s put in to break out of this slump.
“He’s exhausting every ounce of ideas, thoughts, things, routines and trying to figure things out,” Roberts said of Taylor after Tuesday’s game. “I can only say, ‘Way to swing the bat’ (so many times) and not get results. Tonight was a good night and I’m happy for him.”
Via SNLA
Hopefully Taylor is able to continue this success into the Dodgers’ upcoming homestand against the Cardinals. The Dodgers could really use some more consistent at-bats from anyone in the lineup, and it would be nice for Taylor to be that guy.
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