Los Angeles Dodgers: Players that will have a surprising impact in 2019
By Jason Reed
3. Chris Taylor
Chris Taylor was the Dodgers’ biggest story of the 2017 season. After being acquired for Zach Lee from the Seattle Mariners, Taylor emerged as an impossible out during the summer of 2017 and was the co-MVP of the 2017 NLCS.
Heck, Taylor even blasted a lead-off homer in Game 1 of the 2017 World Series and later extended the inning for Justin Turner to hit a two-run shot to give the Dodgers a 3-1 win in their first World Series game in 29 years.
After a great 2017, everyone expected Taylor to play a prominent role in 2018. Even if he did not have the same impact, he was a prime candidate to be an everyday player due to him being right-handed and the speed and versatility he brought the Dodgers.
Taylor did play in 155 games but did not have nearly the role that anyone expected. His .254 batting average was not overly concerning but he did strike out 178 times; that was the fifth-most in the MLB and means Taylor struck out in 29.5 percent of his plate appearances.
That is obviously going to have to get better especially considering that Taylor has a unique role in 2019. As it stands right now, he is the only right-handed hitting outfielder (unless you count Hernandez, who is primarily going to be a second baseman).
With Joc Pederson, Cody Bellinger, Alex Verdugo and potentially Edwin Rios serving as the other options, Taylor is going to get a lot of playing time and is going to be starting every single game against left-handed pitchers.
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To counteract the Los Angeles Dodgers’ abundance of left-handed hitters the team is going to need Taylor to step it up and become a threat, at the very least, against southpaws.