The Los Angeles Dodgers played Tuesday’s game without Kyle Tucker and he’s also not expected to be in the lineup for the series finale against the Minnesota Twins due to lower back spasms.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tucker was “feeling better” on Tuesday but wasn’t available in any role. The expectation is the earliest he will be back in the lineup is when the Dodgers begin their series against the San Diego Padres.
“Most likely we’ll probably stay away from him this series,” Roberts said on SportsNet LA. “With hopes of getting him back in the lineup on Friday.”
Tucker was removed in the second inning after running the bases. He had reached via walk then hunched over and went into a crouch at second base after a single by Tommy Edman. Tucker said after the game his back began to spasm upon taking the field in the bottom of the first inning and it primarily was felt when rotating to throw and swing a bat.
Roberts wasn’t yet certain if the 29-year-old would take part in any baseball activities on Wednesday.
“I think that just sort of depends on how he’s feeling coming out of today. Ideally, he would swing the bat [Wednesday] and do some type of activity to go into the off day,” he said. “But if he doesn’t, then we’ll probably have a tougher decision on Friday.”
Kyle Tucker’s comments about back spasms
Tucker likened his current issue to a previous bout with back spasms, but noted in that instance he felt ongoing bursts of the muscles contracting. In this case, one immediate spasm gave way to general soreness.
“I really felt it when we out for defense in between innings in the first,” Tucker said. “Back just lit up. I went out there and hoped it would kind of calm down or go away, or something, and I’d keep playing through it. Went through the bottom of the first like that and in the top of the second went through the at-bat and on the bases.
“It was kind of still sticking around, still kind of there, so Doc went ahead and put A.C. (Alex Call) in and got me out of there. … It didn’t feel like it did last time, which is good. Last time, it was lighting up every few seconds. Here it’s just the one time it lit up my whole back, and after that it kind of calmed down but it’s super sore and smaller spasms.”
The back trouble comes amid ongoing questions regarding Tucker’s first season with the Dodgers as he’s gotten off to a slow start. He now is going to receive a minimum of two games off and three overall days to potentially have a small reset of sorts.
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