Well, I promised I wouldn't bother this man until August, and here we are at the end of August, and I am a man of my word, and tonight he is starting at second base. And that is the one and only Chris Taylor. Chris, thanks a lot for the time. Appreciate it.
Yeah, I made it easy on you there being on the IL that whole time.
But well, it is a technicality, but I'll take it for sure. How does it feel to be back and to get a start tonight against the lefty Cole Irvin.
It feels good to be back. You know, anytime around the IL you're itching to get back in the lineup and you know, or just get on the field and you know what plan two days ago. It was just refreshing to get back out there and you know, compete again. And yeah, I'm excited.
CT. Even before you got injured, you were starting to find your rhythm to the season strikeouts where down batting average was up, and you even told me that you made some noticeable swing changes. Do you feel like you carried the momentum from before the injury into you know, your rehab assignment.
Yeah, it's kind of been a constant progression. You know, I think probably a few weeks before I got injured, I was feeling pretty good and some of my feels were starting to get a little too extreme, and when I got hurt, I wasn't I was feeling okay. You know, I was still getting hits, but I wasn't really driving the ball and kind of just like not really barreling much.
But I was still, like you said, I was getting on base, and you know, I thought the the injury, you know, trying to take advantage of the downtime and you know, tune some things out. And right now I feel much better and feel like even two days ago, you know, I had a couple of swings where I actually drove it at one foul and the other one was a line out. But you know, I felt like I hadn't really barreled the ball or driven the ball to the outfield in a while, So that was a good sign for me.
You're a guy that has a pretty good head on his shoulders to stand the moment. Do you just approach this as saying, this is my new season because we are getting closer to the time of year where Chris Taylor thrives.
Yeah, I think as baseball players, you have to, especially when you have a slow start, You kind of have to approach every day like a new season, and you have to find those short little periods. You can't dwell on your numbers for the year. Especially for me this year, getting such a bad start, it's just not a good
head place to be in. So yeah, it kind of gives you a fresh start mentality, and I'm really just trying to, you know, help us get to the playoffs and you know, hopefully win at a Vision and win a World Series, and you know, trying to look forward.
Chris Taylor is our guest. The Dodgers have the best record in baseball, including yourself. Your lineup is healthy. Does it feel like you guys are on the verge or in the middle of playing your best baseball of the season.
Yeah, as you said, I think health is the biggest thing. You know, we got some guys back that we've really been missing, and finally having everyone on the field, almost everybody on the field, is huge for us.
I'm looking at your left wrist. Do you have a few wristbands on there? And one was hashtag Dalton and the other one is for Kai. Can you explain those two wristbands and why you wear them.
Yeah, I have one is Dalton. He's one of my He lives in my parents' neighborhood. He lost his life to you in sarcoma, Kai is currently fighting brain cancer. And the other one is the letters war Off, But that's for my one of my best friends growing up, Kyle Profile. He lost his fight with ostio sarcoma. So yeah, just kind of reminders, you know, keep those those guys in my thoughts and definitely puts things into perspective, like this is just a game, and you know there are bigger things in life.
How much do you think about them when you're standing at second base pre pitch or maybe in between innings when you're warming up, or is it just something that you keep with you throughout the day and just know they're there.
Yeah, you know, I think it's you know, I don't know if I'm thinking about them like while I'm playing, or it's more just something you know, when I look down and see it, it's just a reminder, and you know I like to have that, you know, keep those keep those kids, and you know, keep them in my thought.
Love it. Thanks Chris, Thanks for sharing and We'll look forward to seeing you at second base tonight.
Yeah, looking forward to be back.