Kyle Tucker’s timing could hardly be better.
With the playoffs only a couple of weeks away, the Los Angeles Dodgers are getting a surge from the player who may matter most to their October push. Tucker, the right fielder who has taken heat for much of the season while playing under his $240 million contract - the largest average annual value in baseball - has suddenly looked like one of the sport’s hottest hitters.
That turnaround has come fast. Over his last eight games, Tucker has been crushing the ball, and the numbers from the stretch that ended Wednesday jump off the page.
Baseball Reference lists him at .333/.433/.833/1.267 in those seven games, a massive spike from his season line of .226/.327/.373/.700. During that run, he has hit three home runs, a double and a triple, driven in seven runs and scored nine times.
The spark showed up at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 9, when Tucker went 3-for-5 with a double and a homer in a 14-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds. He scored twice in that game, and two days later he turned in an even louder night: 3-for-3, a grand slam - his first in three years - a triple, five RBIs and two more runs scored.
Then came Thursday, his best outing yet as a Dodger. Tucker finished 4-for-5 with a homer and two doubles, drove in three runs and scored twice. He came painfully close to the cycle, which had plenty of people wondering if he should have tried to stretch that second double into a triple.
After the game, Tucker brushed that aside. Speaking to David Vassegh, he said he “tried my best.”
“I didn’t think I was going to get there. I probably would have been thrown out halfway, but it’s all good,” he said.
He said it with a Champagne-soaked smile after the Dodgers clinched the division, and the mood made one thing obvious: this was about more than just a good night at the plate. Tucker looks like a player who has found something again.
The change appears to have been helped, at least in part, by mechanical adjustments he has made with the coaching staff. Whatever the exact mix of reasons - the tweaks, the standing ovation some fans debated giving him at home, or both - the result is the same. Tucker’s confidence looks back, and so does his impact.
That matters now more than ever. He’s once again a real threat every time he steps into the box, and that’s a major development for a team chasing a three-peat. The Dodgers will watch closely to see whether the surge carries into their upcoming home series, but the hot streak already started at Dodger Stadium, and that gives them reason to believe it can continue.
Tucker has been through winning playoff baseball before. The Dodgers are hoping he can help carry them through another title run next month.
In Other News...
Dodgers Fans Want Elly De La Cruz But This Could Get Messy
Elly De La Cruz has put together the kind of season that naturally sends imaginations spinning in Los Angeles, where every standout shortstop seems to wind up on the Dodgers radar sooner or later. He has flashed impact on both sides of the ball for the Cincinnati Reds, and for a club always thinking big-picture, it is easy to see why fans would start connecting dots to a current shortstop situation that still feels unsettled.
But even if the fit is obvious on the surface, getting from speculation to reality would be a far trickier exercise. Any potential move would have to navigate contract considerations, team dynamics and the optics of prying away a rising star, which is why this sort of idea can linger in the background without ever becoming simple. For now, it is more a reminder of how aggressively the Dodgers fan base thinks than a sign that anything is close. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Are Testing A Top Prospect In A Spot They Need Badly
Charles Davalans Arizona Fall League assignment has become more than just another developmental stop. The Dodgers are giving the recently promoted Double-A Tulsa standout a look at second base after he spent his time in the outfield, a move that fits both his own progress and the organizations search for middle infield help. It is the kind of experiment that says as much about the systems depth chart as it does about the player himself.
Davalan has already earned attention with his offense in the minors, and now the question is whether his bat can travel with him to a new spot on the dirt. For the Dodgers, the appeal is obvious: if he can handle the transition, they may have another option in an area where they could use more answers. The Fall League is built for exactly this sort of test, and Davalans next steps will say plenty about how quickly the club thinks he can move. [Read more 🡒]
Tarik Skubal Just Gave Dodgers Fans Real Hope About His Future
Tarik Skubals presence in the Dodgers division-clinching celebration gave fans a fresh jolt of optimism about what could come next. With the postseason still ahead, the pending free agent joined in the teams moment of celebration and spoke positively about both the current run and the possibility of more success down the road, a small but notable sign for a fan base already thinking beyond October.
Skubals comments naturally fueled more speculation about his future, especially with his status still unresolved. Nothing official has been announced, but any public showing of enthusiasm around the Dodgers tends to get attention, and this one offered plenty of reason for supporters to wonder whether he sees a longer-term fit in Los Angeles. [Read more 🡒]