The Los Angeles Dodgers lineup for Thursday’s game featured a new look with Freddie Freeman moved up to batting second and Kyle Tucker dropped down to the cleanup spot.
How the top of the Dodgers lineup would be ordered was topic of discussion from the moment the Dodgers signed Tucker to his record-breaking contract. But with the four-time All-Star off to a slow start and the Dodgers having suffered back-to-back losses for a second time in the last five games, manager Dave Roberts decided on a change from the initial plan.
Why were Kyle Tucker and Freddie Freeman flipped?
One of the reasons the Dodgers decided on having Tucker bat second was his ability to hit left-handed pitching nearly as equally as right-handers, and the speed element he provides over Freeman. However, Roberts is now changing them in Dodgers lineup moving forward.
“I think it’s more of just trying to give Kyle a different look,” Roberts explained on SportsNet LA. “He’s obviously going through it right now and not feeling great at the plate. So sometimes the different visual, letting the game come to you a little bit before jumping in there in the two, changes your outlook and potentially the results.
“So that’s kind of the thought, and I’m going to stick with this for the foreseeable future. We’ll see where it goes.”
Shohei Ohtani, Freeman and Tucker ranked among the top five left-handed hitters against left-handed pitching last season. Ohtani led such batters with a 146 wRC+, with Freeman posting a 136 wRC+ and Tucker having a 134 wRC+.
Roberts had last expressed his belief Tucker was pressing during the Dodgers’ homestand. Though, he noted Tucker and Dodgers hitting coaches also identified some mechanical issues they were working on correcting. For his part, Tucker disagreed with the notion that he’s pressing and explained his offensive struggles were more about inconsistent swings.
Meanwhile, Freeman is hitting at career averages thus far and is second on the team with 14 RBI entering the series finale against the San Francisco Giants.
Freeman made 47 starts as the Dodgers’ cleanup hitter last season but otherwise had not consistently hit in that spot of a lineup since doing so for 82 games with the Atlanta Braves in 2013. The overwhelming majority of Freeman’s career has come as a No. 3 hitter — 1,383 games (1,380 starts) — followed by 370 games (368 starts) when batting second.
Tucker has more balance throughout his career, playing 98 games (97 starts) in the cleanup spot. The bulk of his experience has come when batting fifth, where Tucker’s hit for 187 games (185 starts). That’s followed by 174 games (170 starts) in the two-hole.
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