Chris Taylor, who played all over the field in 10 of his 12 major league seasons for the Dodgers, retired as a player on Friday.
Taylor was on a minor league deal with the Angels and hit .255/.382/.321 with an 86 wRC+ this year for the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees. The last game for the 35-year-old came on Wednesday, playing right field against Tacoma.
Drafted out of the University of Virginia in the fifth round in 2012 by the Seattle Mariners, Taylor struggled in his first taste of the majors, hitting
.240/.296/.296 in 86 games over parts of two seasons with Seattle. The Mariners traded Taylor to the Dodgers on June 19, 2016 for pitcher Zach Lee, the former first-round pick.
Taylor started the 2017 season in the minors but was called up by mid-April to partially fill in at second base for Logan Forsythe, who broke his toe. Taylor, with a revamped swing, suddenly thrived at the plate, and was a regular for the next seven seasons, plus two more as a part-time player.
Versatility was Taylor’s calling card, with the ability to play everywhere in the infield and outfield. With the dodgers, Taylor started 259 games in left field, 175 games at shortstop, 157 games in center field, 115 games at second base, 50 games at third base, and 17 games in right field.
“I feel like my role has always been to play all over the field, and that’s part of my value,” Taylor said in 2021. “There’s been times where guys have gotten hurt, and then I have to play one position for a month or whatever.”
Taylor shared NLCS MVP honors with third baseman Justin Turner in 2017, then led off Game 1 of that year’s World Series with a home run, in the first Fall Classic game for the Dodgers in 29 years.
In 2018, Taylor’s sliding catch in left field robbed Christian Yelich of a double in the fifth inning of Game 7 of the NLCS in Milwaukee, protecting a one-run lead at the time.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was asked Friday night in Milwaukee was asked about Taylor’s retirement, and that catch.
“Worlds would have been different if he didn’t make that play,” Roberts said, as shown on SportsNet LA. “He’s had a great career. He got everything out of his ability, and I was fortunate enough to coach him. He, Mary, and the kids can ride off into the sunset. Does a lot of stuff for the foundation. He was a joy, a complete pro.”
Taylor made his lone All-Star game in 2021, and was voted by teammates and coaches as the Roy Campanella Award winner, embodying the spirit of the longtime Hall of Fame catcher.
That October Taylor won the National League wild card game with a ninth-inning home run off St. Louis Cardinals closer Alex Reyes, one of only six walk-off home runs in Dodgers postseason history. In the 2021 NLCS, Taylor kept the Dodgers alive with three home runs in Game 4 against the Atlanta Braves, one of only three three-homer games in franchise postseason history.
Taylor in his 12-year career hit .248/.327/.419 with a 104 wRC+, 16.2 bWAR, 17.2 fWAR, 200 doubles, and 110 home runs in 1,123 games for the Mariners, Dodgers, and Angels. He was a part of five pennant-winning teams and three championship teams with the Dodgers, and ranks third in team history with 80 postseason games played.
Taylor was released by the Dodgers last May, in the final season of his four-year contract, and wasn’t around for the 2025 championship run in October. But now that he’s retired, one would imagine Taylor will get his championship ring at some point in the relatively-near future, with a deserving pregame ovation from the Dodger Stadium crowd.
