The Los Angeles Dodgers reinstated Chris Taylor from the 10-day injured list and optioned James Outman to Triple-A Oklahoma City ahead of their series opener against the San Diego Padres. Also before the game, Clayton Kershaw was placed on the 15-day IL and Reyes Moronta got recalled.
Taylor is back on the Dodgers’ active roster for the first time in one month due to a fracture in his left foot. Taylor initially was diagnosed with a contusion and only missed one game, but his return to the Dodgers lineup on July 4 ended after five innings.
“It was something that was feeling better before the game and I thought it wasn’t going to be an issue,” Taylor said after being removed. “I thought I would be able to play through it, and it progressively every inning it got worse and worse and got to a point where it wasn’t worth continuing to try to push it.
X-rays were negative but a CT scan revealed the small fracture.
Taylor went multiple weeks without being able to resume full baseball activities. His final hurdle was running, and once that was crossed off, Taylor began a rehab assignment with Oklahoma City.
That was expected to last one week but Taylor only appeared in two games for the Dodgers’ top affiliate. He went a combined 3-for-7 with two home runs and three RBI while spending time at second base, third base and left field.
Taylor is starting at second base on Friday and could play the position more often moving forward as the Dodgers are convinced his is fully recovered from offseason right elbow surgery.
Outman returns to Oklahoma City after spending five games up with the Dodgers. He had a record-setting MLB debut and went 6-for-13 with two doubles, one home run and two walks over four games.
Andrew Friedman impressed by Outman
Outman’s historic start to his career and early contributions caught the eye of Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.
“It’s been really fun to watch Outtie. It’s an incredible story from our amateur scouting efforts to our player development efforts,” Friedman said. “And it takes someone that has the work ethic, makeup and desire to be great that James has.
“It’s an awesome story with so many different people involved in it. To watch him come up and impact our team in these two games has been really fun. We’ve been sitting in a room with a lot of our scouts and some player development guys, and they’ve really enjoyed every minute of it, and rightfully so.”
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