Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Kyle Tucker is in the midst of a puzzling slump, but the Dodgers have no intention of giving up on him.
Tucker, who the Dodgers signed to the biggest deal in terms of annual average value in MLB history during the offseason, has struggled to adjust to playing in Los Angeles all season. His OPS currently sits below .700, and his 11 home runs through 118 games are far from what Dodger fans expected from him.
The outfielder looked to be turning a corner at the beginning of a month, riding a seven-game hit streak into last week’s series against the Kansas City Royals, but his struggles became far more apparent since then. He hasn’t recorded a hit since Aug. 9, and he went the entirety of the Dodgers’ series against the Brewers without reaching base.
In Monday’s 11-5 win over the Rockies, Tucker went 0-for-5 and made a regrettable error in right field. Tucker ran in to corral a routine fly ball off the bat of Connor Norby, but dropped it while holding his glove well below his waistline. Norby came around to score the Rockies’ second run of the game.
After grounding out in the top of the ninth, cameras panned to Tucker getting emotional in the dugout.
“He’s frustrated,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The play in right field, there’s indecision. Catching a baseball at your ankles kind of speaks to where his head is at right now. It’s not from a lack of effort, care.
“We’ve got to keep supporting him.”
What Has Kyle Tucker Done to Get Back on Track?
Tucker’s struggles have persisted throughout the whole season so far, and the right fielder has tried just about everything in an attempt to get back into the swing of things.
Early in the season, hitting coach Aaron Bates said Tucker had been forcing his swing too much, and Roberts noted an uncharacteristic tendency to chase pitches—things he hadn’t done before in his career.
Tucker clearly tried to make the correct adjustment, but he hasn’t yet achieved his desired result.
Roberts gave Tucker the day off against the Brewers Saturday to try to work through his issues, but his struggles remained.
“If I knew, I’d obviously change something,” Tucker said of what he could do to improve. “But just gotta keep playing.”
Tucker, at his best, is one of the most dangerous sluggers in MLB, and the right fielder will look to rediscover that side of himself throughout the remainder of the season to assist the Dodgers in their quest to win the National League’s first three-peat this October.