Dodgers News: Chris Taylor Appears to be a Sort of Odd Man Out on LA’s Roster
The Dodgers opening day roster is already set. Save for the official paperwork going to the league, the team has picked its 13 pitchers and 13 position players to make up the 26-man roster.
Hashtag math.
The roster is definitely not as plug-and-play as it’s been in years past. And nowhere is that more evident than in the outfield. Mookie Betts is the only lock to play every day in right field (and even he will likely see some time in the infield at second base). David Peralta was signed to play a lot against right-handed pitching and James Outman is making the team out of spring training, which presumably means he’s going to play often.
One guy most affected by the loss of Gavin Lux is long-time utility man Chris Taylor. Taylor along with Trayce Thompson are two guys left trying to figure out what exactly their roles are heading into the regular season. With Thompson, he’ll see playing time against left-handed pitching. But his struggles versus southpaws last season combined with his struggles this spring make it hard to see him being a mainstay on this roster.
Taylor, on the other hand, is signed to a big contract. He’s actually the third highest paid position player on the roster this season. Before Lux went down, CT3 was slated to take down a lot of innings in center field and in left. But the roster shift that saw Miguel Rojas — who was slated to be a backup infielder — take over at shortstop kind of leaves Chris as the new Rojas.
A part-time player.
He’s fallen a good bit on the depth chart since signing that 4-year, $60 million deal at the end of 2021. That season he was coming off an All-Star berth and came alive for a huge postseason run. But the 32-year-old has been dealing with a broken swing that was brought on by a few nagging injuries.
Taylor’s results this spring haven’t helped much in feeling he’s turned a corner. He has just 6 hits in 48 at-bats. That’s a .125 average. His 23 strikeouts lead the team.
Dave Roberts is holding out faith that CT can figure it out, but until he does, Chris will be kind of on the outside looking in when it comes to regular playing time.
