Although he was removed from last Wednesday’s finale against the Chicago Cubs due to hamstring tightness, Chris Taylor remained confident he would not miss any time. But he was not in the lineup when the Los Angeles Dodgers began a weekend series with the New York Mets.
He ultimately appeared as a pinch-hitter in two of the three games at Citi Field, going 1-for-2 with a two-run double. Taylor was immediately replaced by pinch-runner Ross Stripling after hitting the go-ahead extra-base hit.
Taylor was again out of the lineup Monday night when the Dodgers began a four-game series with the Cubs, marking a fourth consecutive game that was the case.
But once again, he entered as a pinch-hitter, this time delivering a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning that ultimately proved key in a 2-1 victory.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained the club’s cautious approach with Taylor is driven by wanting to avoid aggravating the injury, while also commending Kiké Hernandez for making the rest possible, via Kaelen Jones of MLB.com:
“With [Taylor] and the time that we’ve taken with him, we really don’t want to have any setbacks,” Roberts said. “I think the luxury of having [Hernandez] playing well, something really extreme, great improvement and convincing [improvement] would have to happen for him to be in the lineup tomorrow.”
Considering the Dodgers have continued to utilize Taylor off the bench, it’s likely he will avoid a stint on the 10-day disabled list. Taylor and Roberts have maintained since the beginning that time on the DL wasn’t going to be necessary.
Filling in at shortstop the past four games, Hernandez has gone 5-for-16 with six runs scored, three home runs and four RBI. Taylor has hit a career-high 13 home runs and counting this season.
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