{"id":1012314,"date":"2026-08-20T06:33:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T06:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1012314\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T06:33:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T06:33:31","slug":"kyle-tucker-finally-breaks-hitless-streak-in-dodgers-win-searches-for-light-in-dark-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1012314\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Tucker finally breaks hitless streak in Dodgers’ win, searches for light in dark season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DENVER\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Dodgers<\/a> manager Dave Roberts called right fielder Kyle Tucker into the visiting manager\u2019s office at Chase Field a week and a half ago, just to catch up.<\/p>\n

Roberts had run into Tucker\u2019s wife, Samantha, and their 5-month old baby that morning in Arizona. And he saw it as a good time to check in.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start to struggle and you internalize \u2026 you find yourself going dark, and that\u2019s a lonely place,\u201d Roberts said Tuesday, before the Dodgers\u2019 7-6 win against the Rockies<\/a>. \u201cSo I think that for me, trying to proactively pull conversations out of him, talk about life, talk about baseball, it just kind of opens things up, and I think that it\u2019s freeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a cerebral guy by nature, internalizes a lot. But still, for me, he\u2019s with a new ballclub, he\u2019s scuffling, so I want to get that out of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scuffling is a mild way of describing Tucker\u2019s struggles this season. He described it as the \u201cfirst time in [his] life\u201d that he\u2019s had a season with so many offensive false starts. After being named an All-Star in each of his previous four seasons, Tucker is on pace for the worst offensive year since his 2018 debut season<\/a> with the Astros.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, he finally ended his career-high hitless streak at seven games, with a double up the right-field line in the fourth inning (although he grounded out once and struck out twice in his other plate appearances). He\u2019d gone 26 straight at-bats without a hit.<\/p>\n

So much about Tucker\u2019s year has been head-scratching.<\/p>\n

Take his plate discipline, for example. Traditionally known for his strike-zone control, Tucker\u2019s chase rate has been up this season. But even when he trimmed it to 21.6% in July (not as low as the last two years but even with his 2023 season), his production at the plate didn\u2019t respond accordingly.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest mysteries has been his extreme home\/road splits. Entering Tuesday, he had a solid .822 OPS on the road and a paltry .558 OPS at Dodger Stadium.<\/p>\n

Asked about the contrast earlier this week, he said he didn\u2019t have a theory.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I knew, I\u2019d probably have figured it out by now,\u201d he said. \u201cBut that\u2019s just kind of how it\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recently, his woes have followed him into the outfield. The day after he failed to reel in a fly ball in the right-field corner at Dodger Stadium, he had a far worse drop Monday at Coors Field.<\/p>\n

In the seventh inning of the Dodgers\u2019 11-5 victory against the Rockies<\/a>, Tucker seemed to camp right under a shallow fly. But as it fell, he twisted and put one knee down before dropping the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s indecision, and catching a baseball at your ankles kind of speaks to where his head is at right now,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cIt\u2019s not from lack of effort, or care. It\u2019s just right now, I think he\u2019s kind of fighting. So we\u2019ve got to keep supporting him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tucker isn\u2019t the only player who\u2019s struggling. Mookie Betts has been hot and cold<\/a> at the plate. Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez hasn\u2019t been slugging<\/a> the way he\u2019s accustomed to. And before arriving in Colorado, the team was in a collective slump.<\/p>\n

Tucker, however, is in the first year of a four-year, $240-million contract. And so far the Dodgers haven\u2019t seen the version of him that elevated the Cubs\u2019 offense in the first half of last year and was a steady part of the Astros\u2019 lineup during a run of sustained success.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it\u2019s my first year or 10th year with a team, I think it\u2019d be frustrating regardless,\u201d Tucker said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not like I\u2019m frustrated just because I\u2019m playing at home or anything. Whether it\u2019s on the road or at home, it would be frustrating, just not helping the team win games.\u201d<\/p>\n

He slid into his most recent slump during the Dodgers\u2019 last homestand, but the Colorado altitude didn\u2019t immediately work its magic when the team went back on the road.<\/p>\n

During Monday\u2019s SNLA broadcast, analyst Eric Karros suggested sending Tucker to Arizona for a reset.<\/p>\n

The less extreme version would be sitting Tucker for several games in a row.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not at the point where it\u2019s like a three-day, three-game reset situation, something like that,\u201d Roberts said Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

He did, however, give Tucker a day off Saturday, saying he saw Tucker\u2019s frustration as he continued to struggle offensively at Dodger Stadium. And Tuesday, he said he hadn\u2019t decided whether to start Tucker against Rockies left-handed starter Kyle Freeland the next day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough because, I mean, I feel like I\u2019ve tried just about everything,\u201d Tucker said. \u201cAnd every time I feel like I\u2019m turning a corner, I get hit with a roadblock. But, you can\u2019t stop. You just got to keep going, try and at least pick out the positives, and just try and ride with that. Just keep on moving to the next day and hope for something to build.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DENVER\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called right fielder Kyle Tucker into the visiting manager\u2019s office at Chase Field a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1012315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[405185,2385,2442,1910,405186,5605,8143,1266,278641,8150,26804,62,3007,124365,5618,67,132,68,2030,1628],"class_list":["post-1012314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-dark-season","tag-day","tag-dodgers","tag-game","tag-hitless-streak","tag-kyle-tucker","tag-light","tag-mlb","tag-plate-discipline","tag-road","tag-roberts","tag-sports","tag-team","tag-tucker","tag-tuesday","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-win","tag-year"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117126444320724816","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1012314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1012314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1012314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1012315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1012314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1012314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1012314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}