Kyle Tucker has been working to find his swing amid a frustrating start to his Los Angeles Dodgers career.
After showing signs of a potential breakout in the team’s 9-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, Tucker has gone hitless over his last six at-bats against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Manager Dave Roberts downplayed the notion that Tucker is still adjusting to being with the Dodgers and wants to see him put together more competitive plate appearances.
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s the case,” Roberts said on SportsNetLA. “I think there is some of that for all players, that transition, adjustment. But to be quite honest, once you’re in the box, you’re in the box. These are stadiums that he’s played in, so it’s more of just trying to feel comfortable with his mechanics.
“But still, you got to compete and go with whatever swing you got that day to help us win a baseball game, that’s kind of what you have to do.”
Tucker struggled with chasing pitches out of the strike zone earlier this season, but Roberts has seen improvement in that area and said it’s now just a matter of the 29-year-old making better contact.
“Actually, I think the last few weeks, I would say it’s been better,” Roberts began. “I know that he’s kind of making a conscious effort to be better with that. Now it’s kind of just the quality of contact. But it’s nothing that anyone who watches doesn’t realize.”
Tucker has been swinging at the first pitch more frequently, which Roberts believes is a byproduct of pressing at the plate.
“That’s probably more a question for him, but for me that’s anxiousnes,” Roberts said. “He does like to, and has, run counts, but he has been more aggressive first pitch. So you know, that’s interesting.”
Kyle Tucker’s 2026 stats
Through 58 games with the Dodgers this season, Tucker is batting just .235/.335/.380 with 15 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 27 RBI across 248 plate appearances.
Tucker started to hit well at the midway point of May, but wasn’t able to sustain the success. He finished the month just 7-for-41 (.141) with two doubles, two triples and four RBI over his final 11 games.
Tucker has tried several methods to get back on track, including hitting off the high-velocity machine and taking batting practice on the field.
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