Dodgers News: Chris Taylor Begins MiLB Rehab Assignment
The Dodgers health has been a major concern throughout the year — including recent injuries to Clayton Kershaw and Daniel Hudson — but Julio Urias made his return to the mound recently and another Dodger is working his way back.
Los Angeles’ left fielder and ocassional infielder Chris Taylor began his rehab assignment on Friday, per Eric Stephen of True Blue LA.
Chris Taylor played five innings in left field on Friday for the Dodgers team in the Arizona Complex League. He singled and walked in three PA in his first game since landing on the injured list with right knee soreness
— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) July 8, 2023
Taylor, currently on the 10-day injured list with nagging knee soreness, has had a down year for LA — hitting just .206 with 11 home runs and 26 RBI — and is trying to rediscover the form that made him an All-Star in 2021.
The 32 year old’s down year has caused him to lose his consistent starting spot, but the Dodgers can use someone as versatile as him when his bat is in order.
He still has some power in his bat, hitting his 11 homers in 59 games, but he needs to fix his sky high strikeout rate of 34.6 percent. That’s the second highest rate of his career, only besting last season when he struck out in 35.2 percent of his at-bats.
If he can, that will likely go a long way toward him turning his season around when he returns to the Dodgers in the second half of the year.
Taylor mentioned recently that he was beginning to figure things out at the plate before he went on the IL, so hopefully for the Dodgers he’s able to put that into practice when he returns.
We’ll see if he can — and he’s got a quality track record in his past — so it’ll be intriguing to see if Taylor can change his fortunes.
If he can, LA will be getting a key piece back just in time for the season to turn the corner in a close NL West race, something that’s been a rarity over the last decade.
