Dodgers: Chris Taylor Working to Avoid Future Neck Issues

Chris Taylor's 2022 season was derailed by injuries, including a recurring neck issue. The Dodgers' utilityman is working hard to avoid a repeat in 2023.

When you're a professional athlete, you rely on your body to work the way it's supposed to. When it doesn't, that can be frustrating and even scary.

For Dodgers utilityman Chris Taylor, he's had issues with his neck each of the last two seasons. A healthy neck is extremely important for a baseball player, as it's involved in every throw, catch, and swing. It's an often-overlooked but vital body part for an athlete.

Recently, Taylor was on AM 570 and talked about the neck woes and how he's working to combat them.

“I had a few [injuries] last year. I think the biggest thing was the neck at the end of the year, which has happened two years in a row actually, that neck stiffening up on me. So I think that’s something I’m really going to have to monitor. That’s just sort of the way my, I have a lot of tension like in my traps and neck and it’s something I’m going to have to be aware of and I can’t, going to have to be on top of, like, the neck exercises and my posture is a big thing. So I’ve been doing a lot of stuff this offseason to stay on top of it and make sure it doesn’t get back to that point, so I think I’m in a good spot with that.”

As G.I. Joe famously said, knowing is half the battle, so hopefully Taylor's awareness and proactive approach to neck maintenance will pay dividends in a healthy 2023. The entire 2022 season was kind of a nightmare for Taylor, but with another year since his arm surgery and a healthy neck, hopefully he can rediscover the form that made him so valuable from 2017 to 2021.