As Kyle Tucker hits new low, even Dodgers broadcaster suggests ‘reset’ is needed

DENVER –– To what unthinkable depths has Kyle Tucker’s debut Dodger season suddenly reached?

Well, during Monday night’s 11-5 win over the Colorado Rockies, the idea of hitting pause on Tucker’s campaign was openly discussed on the club’s SportsNet LA broadcast, as his career-worst season slumped to a new low.

“I honestly think the best thing right now is a reset,” former Dodgers slugger and current television color analyst Eric Karros said in the ninth inning of the game, after Tucker completed an 0-for-5 performance by grounding out against position-player pitcher Troy Johnston on the mound.

“You’ve got a month and a half [until the playoffs], and you’ve tried things here, and like I said –– I think you need a reset,” Karros continued. “I think you need to go to Arizona and start working on some things, change some things … This is just not ideal, and it’s not working.”

Indeed, little has worked for Tucker since he signed a $240 million contract this offseason; from his hitting (especially at home, where he has endured an historic slump), to his defense (which ranks among the worst for regular MLB right fielders), to his reputation among the fan base (he has been booed multiple times during recent homestands), to his ability to overcome such frustrations and turn his year around.

“It’s not from lack of effort, or care,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s just kind of right now, I think he’s kind of fighting.”

Monday was full of obvious examples, as Tucker extended a career-long hitless streak to 25 at-bats over his last seven games.

There was a second-inning pop-out on a hanging 2-0 splitter from Rockies starter Tomoyuki Sugano.

There was a third-inning flyout on a questionable 3-0 swing decision.

And by the end of the night, the ninth-inning grounder against Johnston somehow wasn’t even the most embarrassing moment.

Instead, that came in the bottom of the seventh, when Tucker flat-out dropped a routine fly ball near the foul line in right field after hesitating on his catch until it had almost hit the ground.

“Certainly, the play out in right field, there’s indecision,” Roberts said. “Catching a baseball at your ankles kind of speaks to where his head is at right now.”

It’s unlikely, of course, that the Dodgers would do something as drastic as sending Tucker to Arizona for even a temporary reprieve.

And before Monday’s game, the 29-year-old did his best to keep a positive outlook on the remainder of his year.

“You just got to keep going, try and at least pick out the positives, and just try and ride with that,” Tucker said. “Just keep on moving to the next day and hope for something to build on.”

However, time to build such foundations is dwindling, and the four-time All-Star’s season only seems to be getting worse. 

Not just because he is batting a career- and team-worst .230. Or has a below-league-average .692 OPS. Or has been worth negative-eight defensive runs saved and negative-seven outs above average on defense (both dead last among MLB’s 11 qualified right fielders this season).

But, because as Monday’s game epitomized, his confidence is increasingly waning the worse his performance gets.

“I feel like I’ve tried just about everything,” Tucker said before Monday’s game. “And every time I feel like I’m turning a corner, I get hit with a roadblock.”

“We gotta keep supporting him,” Roberts added. “That’s what we gotta do. We gotta keep supporting him.”