Dodgers camp stories: Dodgers look to tap into Chris Taylor’s ‘superpower’
by Cary Osborne
Chris Taylor was getting his hacks in on Field 2 at Camelback Ranch in batting practice — some against Dodger pitchers. There was a consistent landing spot for the baseballs.
Deep drives targeted the fencing with some landing over the fence.
The swing looks, and he says feels, on point.
Taylor has freely admitted over the years that his swing has swung from online to offline and back.
Taylor is coming off a season that swung from offline to online, and thus his role changed from past seasons. Starts became less available and a combination of difficulties in the batter’s box and a groin strain that cost him a month of Major League time led to his least amount of playing time as a Dodger in a full season.
Taylor understood.
“For me, the way this season started, I kind of had to shift my goals for the year and my own individual goals,” Taylor said. “I have very high aspirations for myself, and it just wasn’t realistic with the position I put myself in. So I told myself halfway through the year, I want to be on the postseason roster. I want to help our team anyway I can — whether that’s coming off the bench, defense, baserunning, or just being a veteran guy in the clubhouse. That was my focus, and I wanted to help us win the World Series any way I could.”
Taylor is entering his 10th season as a Dodger and also understands that regular playing time isn’t guaranteed in 2025.
Manager Dave Roberts, though, knows the value that Taylor could bring to this team.
“I’ve always said that one of Chris’ superpowers — and he’s won a lot of big games for the Dodgers in the biggest of moments — is his mindset, his mentality to be ready for whatever we ask of him,” Roberts said. “I still believe that’s a superpower, and his ability to play all over the diamond. So he’s got various gloves. He’s healthy. He’s moving really well. So it could be from third base to left field to center field, and I think after that, there’s (playing) second base in there. But I think CT just knows how to prepare himself.”
Taylor said he made a big swing change coming into the 2024 season, and it didn’t translate the way he expected. Taylor was hitting .156 at the All-Star Break. It was an uphill climb to get to that point, as he tinkered and experimented with his swing. Taylor went on the injured list on July 25 with a right groin strain.
It was a game-changer when he went to Camelback Ranch and the Minor Leagues to rehab in early to mid August.
“I was able to take those at-bats and kind of tinker with things and find what was working for me,” Taylor said. “And then when I was healthy again and I got back to the big leagues, I was in a more consistent spot where I didn’t have to make any more changes and search. I felt like I was in a good place where I could just take my normal approach and compete. And I felt like I was myself again where prior to getting injured I felt like I was honestly a completely different hitter because it was almost like I was trying to hit and think about my mechanics at the same time — which is really difficult to do.”
Taylor was activated from the injured list on Aug. 22. From that point to the end of the 2024 season, he batted .314 (16-for-51).
The Dodgers showed their belief in Taylor by giving him a spot on each Dodger postseason roster — from Division Series to the World Series.
Taylor found himself in a most important moment. The postseason veteran has a 2017 NL Championship Series co-MVP, a walk-off home run in the 2021 Wild Card Game and three home runs in Game 5 of the 2021 NLCS on his resume. He entered Game 5 of the 2024 World Series in the ninth inning as a pinch-runner. Then he stayed in for defense in the bottom of the ninth.
After Walker Buehler earned the first two outs, Taylor in left field was thinking: “Hit it to me.”
“You’ve got to want to be that guy that makes the great play to win it,” Taylor said. “Because if you don’t have that mentality, you’re not going to be ready when it does happen.”
This year might mean stay ready often. The Dodgers have a position-player roster full of options but also have few question marks.
Taylor knows he can contribute, and that’s exactly what he intends to do in 2025.
“Being a Dodger means everything to me,” Taylor said. “I’m so grateful that I was given the opportunity. Getting traded here in 2016 is the best thing that ever happened to me. I know this is the best organization in baseball, and I feel very fortunate that I’ve been able to play here as long as I have, and I’m hoping to continue to play here.”
