What Elbow Injury? Taylor Smashes Long Ball
Chris Taylor Recap: April 5 – 11
After a slow start for Taylor in the Colorado series, he picked things up against the Athletics even after being hit by a pitch. Despite the elbow injury, Taylor only missed one game and didn’t miss a step at the plate or in the field. He picked up his first multi-hit game of the season as well as his first home run.
Chris Taylor vs. Athletics
April 5 – Hard Plunk – Elbow Injury for Taylor
With Gavin Lux on the bench, Taylor would start at second base to begin the series against the A’s. Frankie Montas was on the mound, and the very first pitch he threw to Taylor was a slider down the middle, and Taylor crushed a base hit to left field that came off of his bat at 102.7 MPH. His next AB is when things got a little scary. Taylor took a 96 MPH sinker off of his left elbow that sounded nasty even on tv. He managed to stay in the game, and at one point, went from first to third on a play, and when he slid into third, it was obvious how much pain he was in. He would come around to score on a wild pitch, and that would be the end of his night.
April 6 – Resting Up
Off day for Taylor to help rest up after the elbow injury in the previous game.
April 7 – Two Hit Game
Somehow someway after only one game off after his elbow injury, Taylor was back in the lineup. Granted, Bellinger had also gotten hurt during the series, so the Dodgers needed Taylor back in the game to play center. Taylor was nothing short of impressive in his first game back after getting hit on the elbow. I also want to note we saw him wearing an elbow guard for the first time after being hit. Against Luzardo, Taylor walked in his first plate appearance and came across to score on Pollock’s single.
In his next two at-bats, he singled and doubled, picking up his first multi-hit game of the season. At this point, he had also reached in his last nine of ten plate appearances. He would get hit for the second time in just as many games, but luckily, this time, it was a 74 MPH slider that just got away from Romo. He’d come across to score once more on Turner’s double. His final at-bat resulted in a strikeout.
April 8 – Dodgers Day Off
Chris Taylor vs. Nationals
April 9 – Home Opener
Taylor continued to play centerfield with Bellinger officially going on the IL on Friday. He didn’t do much in Friday’s home opener against the Nationals, as he would go 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. But he did draw a walk in his second plate appearance. He also picked up some pretty cool hardware from the 2020 season.
April 10 – Smash Ball to Left Field
With Bellinger out, it seems like Taylor will be the centerfielder until he returns. He flew out to left in his first at-bat against Corbin. He would win the battle when he came up to bat for the second time and absolutely demolished a ball to left field. Taylor hit this one 429 feet and came off the bat at 110.7 MPH, which was recorded as the second hardest-hit ball of the game and the hardest hit for the Dodgers. He struck out in his third AB and popped out in the one following that. In his final at-bat of the game, he would hit a hard grounder to Trey Turner at shortstop, who got the runner at second, but Taylor was able to beat it out at first.
April 11 – McKinstry Knocks Taylor and Muncy In
Taylor would finish off the series going 1-for-3 in the final game, with an opposite-field base hit. He scored on McKinstry’s two-run home run, giving the Dodgers a 3-0 lead – the final score for this game.
Even after getting plunked by a 96 MPH sinker and an elbow injury, Taylor still managed to put up a great week at the plate, hitting .308. He struggled a bit in the series against the Nationals, but he came up with the hits when needed, and he played strong defense in the outfield. Hopefully, an off-day on Monday will allow Taylor to rest up a bit more and build off this series heading into a 3-game series against the Rockies.
WEEKLY STATS
BA: .280
OPS: .951
R: 6 (6)
Hits: 5 (7)
RBI: 3 (5)
AB: 16 (25)
BB: 2 (7)
2B: 1 (2)
3B: 0 (0)
HR: 1 (1)
SB: 0 (0)
Errors: 0 (0)
For the latest Chris Taylor stats, click here.
For an incredibly silly take on Chris Taylor’s excellent utility performance, click here.
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