There is no kind or gentle way to put it, Dodgers utility infielder/outfielder Chris Taylor is awful.

Or is he?

Since being acquired from the Seattle Mariners on June 19, 2016 in exchange for highly touted (and now out of the game) pitching prospect Zach Lee, the extremely popular 32-year-old Virginia Beach, VA native and Mariners first-round draft pick in 2012 out of the University of Virginia has had a knack for hitting some of the biggest (and occasional game-winning) home runs in recent Dodgers memory. Unfortunately, and more frequently, he has had – and still has – a knack for striking out at the absolute worst possible time, often with the game on the line.

In his thus far 70 official at-bats through the Dodgers first 31 games of the 2023 season, Taylor is hitting a dismal .186, with 32 strikeouts. This equates to a horrible (and quite frankly, unacceptable) 45.7142% strikeout rate. As of this writing, only Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes has a worse batting average than Taylor’s (and Dodgers outfielder David Peralta‘s) .186 batting average at an even more dismal .086.

However, (and thankfully there is a however here), Taylor has had a very productive couple of games this past week.

In Sunday’s 6-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium, Taylor went 2-for-4 with a double and a run batted in. And then, in Tuesday night’s 13-1 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies, also at Dodger Stadium and having been given Monday night off, Taylor went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs batted in. He also appears to be a lot more comfortable and confident at the plate.

And in case you were wondering, there’s this:

Well done, CT3! Keep it up!

Play Ball!

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