It’s no secret to that Kyle Tucker has been a massive disappointment in his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After signing a four-year, $240 million contract with the Dodgers at a record $60 million average annual value, Tucker has posted just a .686 on-base plus slugging while hitting .226. He’s also been among the worst defenders in baseball.
But Tucker showed a little bit of life when he slugged his 12th home run of the season in the sixth inning on Friday night in the series opener against the Washington Nationals.
“It was nice. I haven’t, one, barreled up a ball in a while,” Tucker told Kirsten Watson on SportsNet LA after the game. “Two, haven’t really hit a homer in a while. So nice to get that out of the way in front of the home crowd here and get a win for them.”
Despite the lack of results, the Dodgers have continued to stick with Tucker. A major part of that is due to his contract, but they also see the work he’s putting in to right the ship.
“He needed it. Like we’ve been talking about, the last week, I think that he’s competing,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s taking his walks. There haven’t been hits to show for his work, but he’s working hard down below, stuff in the weight room, in the cage, and trying to dial some things in.
“But get the ball in the stands, I think that was really good for him.”
Tucker homered on a 99.1 mph fastball in the up and in part of the plate. Roberts believes that could be a sign Tucker is closer to getting back on track after he’s failed to hit quality pitches for most of the season.
“I mean, it’s been a while since he’s turned around a fastball like that,” Roberts said. “So like I said, he’s working his tail off, and I think you could see that genuine smile entering the dugout.”
It’s only one hit, and there’s a lot more at-bats and big games to go, but the hope is for that to be the turning point of his season.
“Hopefully, I can just keep it going,” Tucker said. “Just try to carry it over to the next at-bat and the next game. So we’ll see how tomorrow goes.”
Kyle Tucker has tried ‘just about everything’
The struggles have clearly taken a toll mentally on Tucker, who often seems frustrated on the field. But even with that, the right fielder has not accepted defeat.
Tucker said he’s tried “just about everything” he can do to try to break out of his slump. But one major issue is that no one knows why he’s struggling, so it’s been a guessing game.
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