How Taylor can use 'superpower' to earn role with '25 Dodgers

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The last time Chris Taylor spent a block of time at the Dodgers’ training facility at Camelback Ranch, good things happened.

Taylor found his hitting stroke on a rehab assignment here last August. That led to a .314 batting average in 23 games after returning to the parent Dodgers, where he reprised his role as a value-added handyman and World Series contributor.

Swing adjustments are part of his regimen this spring as he enters his 10th season with Los Angeles.

“I worked on some mechanical stuff this offseason, trying to get things closer to how they were when I was good,” Taylor said. “I’m just trying to perform. I’m just trying to make a team.”

The idea is to be more quiet with the swing and more direct to the plate, an approach that is designed to lead to more contact.

“It’s hard to explain, easier to show,” Taylor said. “It’s [swing] path stuff and being a little more direct to the ball.

“It’s kind of complicated because all parts of the swing are connected. When you change stuff with your hands, it can have an effect on your lower half. And vice versa. That’s where it’s difficult. Just really trying to make a little more contact and be simple.”

A work in progress?

“It is,” he said. “It’s day to day. Baseball is that way sometimes. The other day I felt really good. Today, I didn’t feel as good. Just keep working.”

It can happen. Taylor had a pair of hits in the early spring games but struck out in all three plate appearances in an 8-1 loss to the Reds on Monday, when he led off and played second base.

As Taylor enters the final year of a four-year, $50 million contract, earning $13 million this season with a $12 million team option for 2026, the addition of free-agent second baseman Hyeseong Kim and the return of veteran infielder/outfielder Kiké Hernández put roster spots at a premium.

The Dodgers also have decisions to make about how to configure the outfield behind regulars Teoscar Hernández, Tommy Edman and Michael Conforto. Taylor and Kiké Hernández have plenty of outfield experience, and Andy Pages, James Outman and non-roster invitee Eddie Rosario have had periods of success.

“I try to move forward and look forward,” Taylor said.

“I’ve fallen into the trap of chasing things I’ve done in the past, and your body changes. Your ‘feels’ change. So, it is really difficult to do that. I’m trying to move forward and do the things that are going to work best for me right now.

“Some of the things I tried to do back in 2017, if I try to do them now, it’s not going to work.”

The front office can count Taylor as one of their steals -- see Justin Turner, Max Muncy -- after they acquired him from Seattle for right-hander Zach Lee in June of 2016.

Taylor was the NLCS MVP in 2017, and he has a 16.7 WAR in nine seasons in Los Angeles. In his career, he has gotten ample playing time in left field (362 games), shortstop (290), center field (209) and second base (170).

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has seen Taylor at his best, and he points to Taylor’s makeup as a constant.

“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 second base in there. ‘CT’ just knows how to prepare himself.”

A swing adjustment would be a positive, Roberts said, if Taylor settles into a more complementary role.

“To the eye, [his swing] looks a little more quiet,” Roberts said. “For me, it’s a role that [is] inconsistent as far as the playing time. For me, whatever he can find that’s consistent, that’s lower maintenance and that produces more contact. I think that is something that we just need from Chris, because in the past, he has done that, and the last few years, we have gotten away from that."