Dodgers' Andrew Friedman Speaks on Chris Taylor's Slow Start to 2024 Season

Ricardo Sandoval | Apr 26, 2024

Apr 9, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor (3) catches / Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The bottom of the Los Angeles Dodgers' lineup has struggled to start the 2024 season. And no individual has struggled more that utility player Chris Taylor. 

Taylor is arguably having the worst stretch of his career, and unfortunately it is happening at the beginning of a season. His stat line makes it impossible to hide. Entering Friday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays, he's hitting .047, with only two singles and 21 strikeouts in 43 at-bats.

It seems like Taylor goes through these stretches every year, and ultimately, he finds a way to break through. So far, he has yet to do so in 2024. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman spoke to the media, including the OC Register's Bill Plunkett, saying he believes Taylor will eventually find his way out of it. 

"CT is in a real funk," Friedman said to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. "He is such a grinder and such a good baseball player and we all feel for him. What the exact right answer is, I don't know. But I know that he is doing everything he can to get out of it. … I don't know what the answer is."

As the kids say, Taylor has been 'down bad.' It's not even that he is chasing pitches out of the strike zone, as is sometimes his habit. Taylor has been baseball's worst hitter on pitches down the middle of the zone, too.

However, from a glass half-view point of view, we have yet to hit the quarter pole of the regular season. If anyone is going to struggle, let it be early. The baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. Taylor has plenty of time to figure it out, and while his bad play is resulting in lost playing time and little production from the bottom of the order, it's better for a player to struggle now compared to late September, heading into October.