Chris Taylor injures left side, likely to miss remainder of series vs. Mets

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers utility man Chris Taylor hurt his left side making a throw from left field in Monday’s loss to the Mets, and had to leave the game after seven innings.

“What’s concerning is he doesn’t come out of games. We’ll run some more tests tonight, tomorrow to see how he feels,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s quite fair to say that we’ll be down for a couple days.”

It’s unclear on which play Taylor hurt his side, as three different singles were hit to left field during the three-run seventh that tipped the game in the Mets’ favor. But he was replaced in left field in the eighth inning by James Outman.

It’s been a frustrating season so far for Taylor, who struck out twice in his three at-bats on Monday. He’s hitting .125/.200/.425 with 18 strikeouts in 45 plate appearances, a 40-percent strikeout rate that’s tied for highest in the majors among the 247 players who have batted at least 40 times.

Taylor only has five hits, though four of them are home runs.

Depending on what the tests on Taylor show, it’s unlikely the Dodgers make a move for a few days. Though the injury might be serious enough to call someone up on Tuesday.

When asked if the injury was to his oblique, Roberts said, “I don’t want to say that word, but it’s something like that.”

Yonny Hernández would be the best choice to call up from the 40-man roster, as he can play shortstop, third base, and second base, except he’s on the injured list in Triple-A and hasn’t played since April 4.

Without Taylor, the only shortstop on the Dodgers active roster is Miguel Rojas, who already missed five games with a mild left groin strain and left last Wednesday’s game in San Francisco with a cramp in his hamstring. Rojas has four hits in 31 at-bats this season.

Luke Williams has been the regular shortstop for Oklahoma City, and is off to a hot start, hitting .375/.455/.696 with 12 extra-base hits in 14 games in the offense-friendly Pacific Coast League. But he’s not on the 40-man roster, so that would require a corresponding move to create room.

That roster room might not come until catcher Will Smith is cleared to return from the concussion injured list, which can’t happen before Thursday. Austin Wynns, the temporary backup to the backup catcher, doubled home two runs and threw out a baserunner trying to steal in his Dodgers debut on Monday.