Los Angeles Dodgers: Chris Taylor starting in left field is a mistake

As spring training comes to a close it appears as if the Los Angeles Dodgers have found the starting left fielder in Chris Taylor.

The Los Angeles Dodgers had several different position battles entering spring training, two of which Chris Taylor injected his name into, one of which he might have one.

Taylor was initially battling for the second base job with Enrique Hernandez, who came out of the gates hot in spring training and rightfully earned the everyday job. Hernandez, who is already an elite defensive player, showed tremendous strides in his hitting that were comparable to his immensely hot second half in 2018.

After losing that job it appeared as if Taylor would float around in the role that Hernandez typically has in a utility player. He would not have a designated position and instead would cover days off in various different positions.

More from LA Sports Hub

However, he has now entered his name in the left field discussion and might actually be tasked as the starting left fielder. That was initially between Joc Pederson and Alex Verdugo, but Taylor has emerged with more playing time as of late.

Part of that is because of Joc Pederson’s back spasms, which aren’t going to put him in the injured list. Part of that is because of the Dodgers’ weird hesitation to giving Alex Verdugo a longer leash.

Over the last week, aside from the one minor leaguer that broke the trend, the Los Angeles Dodgers have either started Joc Pederson or Chris Taylor in left field. That seemingly is heading in the direction of having a left field platoon, Taylor facing southpaws and Pederson facing right-handed pitching.

The reason behind this is probably because both guys are better against opposite hands and Verdugo is not a platoonable piece because he is also left-handed. And while that logic might make sense on paper, the Dodgers would be making a mistake to go that route.

If you are a constant reader here at LA Sports Hub you know that I am high on Alex Verdugo. I also have the logic that if the team is not going to trade him, they have to utilize him. LA has been so reluctant to move Verdugo but has not given him the chances to succeed despite him arguably being the better option.

The problem with a Taylor-Pederson platoon is that it is going to result in a lot of strikeouts. While Pederson has gotten better at striking out at a high rate, Taylor is trending the wrong way. Taylor ranked fourth in total strikeouts last season and was the only player in the top-12 that had fewer than 500 at-bats and 575 plate appearances.

Taylor struck out 29.5 percent of the time in 2018, which was more frequent than he got a base hit (.254 average).

You could make the case that Taylor cannot be that bad again but anyone with a baseball high realizes that he needs to make adjustments in his swing to succeed. Taylor swings so hard with a big looping swing. All pitchers needed was some film after his breakout year to find the holes in his swing.

As for Pederson, he is coming off arguably the best year of his career but he has not given many reasons in the past to be hopeful of that trend continuing. After his last good season, which was 2016, Pederson responded with arguably the worst year of his career.

Until he proves it at a big league level Verdugo will just be potential, I understand that.

The massive impacts of getting Seager back. dark. Next

However, Verdugo is never going to break show that potential if the Los Angeles Dodgers do not give him the opportunity to prove that he is the best left fielder on this roster.

Home/Los Angeles Dodgers