Dodgers Team News

Dodgers: New Leadoff Man Chris Taylor ‘Invaluable’ for Dave Roberts

To say new Dodgers leadoff man Chris Taylor is on fire would be an understatement. Since moving to the number one spot in the lineup while Mookie Betts has been out with a hip injury, Taylor has been on a tear.

Over his last 7 games, CT3 has 12 hits in 29 at-bats, which is good for a .414 batting average. He’s also connected on 5 home runs and chipped in a pair of doubles as the table setter. Moreover, in July, he’s triple slashing .354/.391/.646.



In case you needed clarification, that’s good.

Understandably, Dodger manager Dave Roberts is feeling pretty grateful to have Taylor around while so much of his club is on the injured list.

He’s invaluable. Having your regular players out and for him to step up, play a premium defensive position, have a huge day offensively, take good at-bats. … We needed every bit. That’s why I just think so highly about the person and the player.

There’s been a lot change, for the perpetually stoic Taylor. A lot of change in the way that there hasn’t been any change. For a player that’s constantly moving around in the lineup and up the diamond, staying put in the leadoff spot and at shortstop seems to have been some sort of spark

This week I’ve kind of been in a good place.

The 2021 All-Star has his batting average up to .284 on the season. His 16 home runs are good for third most over a season in his career… and there are 61 games to go.

CT is a free agent after the season and this invaluable guy is certainly going to be one of the most valuable players on the market this winter.

NEXT: How Aggressive Should the Dodgers Be at the Trade Deadline?

Clint Pasillas

Clint Pasillas has been writing, blogging, and podcasting about the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2008. Under Clint's leadership as the Lead Editor, Dodgers Nation has grown into one of the most read baseball sites in the world with millions of unique visitors per month. Find him online on Twitter/X or his YouTube channel!

18 Comments

  1. It would be incomprehensible if our Dodgers don’t do whatever is reasonably necessary to keep Chris Taylor wearing Dodgers blue. Taylor has always been defensively versatile and his offense (coming up clutch when most needed) has been nothing short of amazing. Right now, Taylor is proving to be one of our most reliable players and we need him.

  2. Dodgers should extended him NOW and not be so stupid as to let him walk . Get a deal done before he hits FA. Amazing right about Dodgers are missing Joc and especially Kike. The players brought to fill in for injuries have been worthless! Raley has been up for a while and strikes out almost every AB. Neuse, Reks, Peters have flopped. Beaty and McKinstry have been so so but that’s it. This current Dodger team is not October worthy at the moment.

  3. CT 3 is a must player to keep for the Dodgers.
    CT 3 can play in many positions and good hitter. Dodgers may try an extend 4 years at 64 millions USD. CT 3 can do SS. and let Seager walk to the Yankees at a bank beaking 200 millions USD.

    1. When it comes down to it, I would certainly re-sign CT3 before even considering Seager. And Seager’s agent is Boras., and I don’t think he would settle for anything less than an absurd deal worth well over $200 million, even though he’s missed well over 2 months this year. If Seager wants to go to Yankees., so be it. Re-sign CT3 and be done with it, even if Taylor ends up playing another position other than SS.

      1. You don’t want to just lose a player of Seager’s talent, there are not many of them out there. Getting hurt was not his fault. You cannot just forget about a NLCS and WS MVP and let him walk. You also don’t want to lock in CT3 @ short and have no other options for him and be stuck w/ Lux @ 2nd for the duration, you automatically weakened the team triple whammy. Losing Seager’s bat will be a huge loss to the line-up and very hard to replace.

        1. Fair enough and I actually hope they can retain Seager. Only meant to secure CT3 first. But Seager’s agent is Boras and THATS the sticking point should he be unreasonable in contract demands.

          1. Sorry, meant to address Le Nguyen also. Why not try to retain both and let Lux be a trade piece, and still keep the line-up strong w/ many options. Management is smart enough to do what’s best for the organization, regardless who the agent is. Being in the upper echelon of MLB, you know the Dodgers are not going down w/out a fight in negotiations. Also who knows what happens to Bauer and his contract? Void? Revoked? Rescinded? Nullified? Invalidated?

  4. Management knows how valuable CT3 is and so does every other club in MLB. It’s going to be going to be a bidding war for his services and he deserves the best contract he can get because of his versatility. He worked very hard to change his swing and ability to play any position @ a very high level, when most brushed him off. He keeps this hot streak going for another week he’ll have a good chance of being named Player of the Month for the league, then he’ll really show what a hot commodity he is. The problem is the Dodgers have Seager, Kershaw, other position concerns, and the salary cap overage.

  5. Dead wrong Clint. Taylor still has a year of arbitration left, meaning he’s not a free agent until after 2022.

    1. Taylor’s 2-year deal was signed in the offseason of 2019-2020. That contract was good for 2020-2021. He is set to become a free agent after this season.

      1. No he is not. According to how rules are set now, he would still have one year of service time remaining (5 years right now), which could be negotiated with another contract or they’d go to arbitration. Either way, unless he pulls a Trevor Bauer or gets traded, he’d still be in a Dodger uniform for 2022.
        But good job pushing your little narrative. Don’t believe me? Educate yourself on the current CBA

        1. I’m sorry that you have the incorrect information, but this isn’t about some “little narrative.” Taylor is a free agent after the season. A player’s service time differs from years under team control. Also, I’m definitely not clicking or allowing some random link from you on the website either. Visit every stats website or Cots Contracts on Baseball Prospectus.

  6. The Dodgers are over the salary cap already. Seager is still in injured list and it can be affected him whenever he’s back in the lineup. For the cost affective, the Dodgers will take a tab on CT 3 rather than Seager.
    The Dodgers got bust $102 millions USD on Bauer deal and that makes them handicap .
    I will be very surprised the Dodgers can afford both Seager and CT 3

  7. All call up players are Not ready for MLB level except J Gray pitcher. Trade them for a starter pitcher

  8. Why would the Dodgers not move Taylor a little further down the lineup, since they’re having so much trouble hitting with men on base? Of course, then you have the problem of finding a good lead-off man. McKinney might be worth a try. He looks like he has a pretty decent eye at the plate.

  9. When Betts is return to the lineup lead off spot, the Dodgers should move CT 3 to clean up and Wills Smith to follow. This will help to score runs. Cody Bellinger is a wasted of bat and need to sit on the bench

  10. Taylor made. For baseball, without a second thought this man has achieved superstar status. Everyone wants to know how he can hit the baseball. He’s able to track the baseball with the ability to hit it long and far. Can you teach how you are doing this. He is able to see the baseball leaving the pitchers hand, two seconds. Betts was coming around but fell under the disabilities curse. We need a runner on first and Taylor fills that job.

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