Going into the 2018 season, Chris Taylor was the unquestioned leadoff hitter of the Los Angeles Dodgers after succeeding in the role during a breakout 2017 campaign.
Taylor has gotten off to a bit of a rough start to this season though, struggling to get on base, which prompted Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to move him down in the order. Taylor has been swinging the bat much better as of late, so that decision may have been beneficial.
Other than Taylor, the Dodgers don’t really have any obvious candidates to bat leadoff. Thus far, Joc Pederson, Chase Utley and Max Muncy have all seen time in the spot.
Muncy doesn’t necessarily look like a prototypical leadoff hitter, but he has been getting the job done as of late. Roberts explained why he likes him in that spot, via Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times:
“The thing for us right now is to have that consistent at-bat at the top of the order, and that’s what Max has done,” Roberts said before the game. “He has a consistent approach. He’ll take a walk and he can slug, too. Knowing he’s going to get four or five at-bats, I’ll bet on that.”
Muncy had a rough night at the plate in Tuesday’s 5-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. But prior to that, he was one of the Dodgers best hitters in recent weeks.
In his 11 games before Tuesday, Muncy hit .345/.459/.793 with three home runs and 10 RBI. He walked six times in that span, which is the plate discipline that immediately impressed Roberts when Muncy came up from Triple-A Oklahoma City earlier in the season.
If Taylor continues to swing a hot bat then he will eventually find himself back in that leadoff spot, but Muncy has certainly been a serviceable replacement for the time being.
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