GLENDALE, Ariz. – Chris Taylor has plenty to worry about. Wondering where his at-bats are going to come from is not one.
“I try not to,” the Dodgers’ veteran utilityman said. “Every year that happens. I think I’ve learned to focus on myself. I know if I’m right and I’m playing the way I’m capable of, they’ll find at-bats for me. So I try to focus on myself and if I do and I play the way I’m capable of, I won’t have to worry about it.
“It’s really about focusing on what you can control. I think I learned that pretty early on. It really doesn’t do any good to try and play manager.”
Taylor has played just about everywhere else for the Dodgers – second, third, shortstop and all three outfield positions – over his eight seasons with the team. This year, though, he finds himself teammates again with Kiké Hernandez, both looking for those same super-utility at-bats.
“I don’t think the role they planned for me to have going into spring training has ever ended up being what it is at the end of the year,” Taylor said philosophically. “It’s always adjusting.”
The same can be said for his swing. That he worries about.
Taylor is honest. It is not his natural swing. It’s one he built in order to get to the big leagues. And it requires constant work.
“The best way I can describe it is – and I’ve used this term a lot, it’s kind of like a seesaw,” Taylor said. “I used to always try to hit ground balls, low line drives my whole career. I was kind of on this end of the seesaw (he lifts his right hand higher than his left). Then I put a lot of emphasis on hitting the ball in the air. So I got to here (he holds his hands relatively level).
Over the last couple seasons, though, “I think the seesaw tipped in the other direction” and he developed a swing with too much uppercut, too much emphasis on lifting the ball. The result was a .228 average over the past two seasons with 285 strikeouts. Trying too hard to…
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