Kyle Tucker’s swing has started to look dangerous again, and the Dodgers are reaping the payoff at exactly the right moment.
After a rocky first season in Los Angeles, Tucker has caught fire over his last seven games, hitting .318/.360/.864 with three home runs, seven runs scored, seven RBI and only three strikeouts in 22 at-bats. He put the latest stamp on that surge Friday, helping the Dodgers win for the eighth straight time and falling a double short of the cycle while also launching a grand slam.
“He’s certainly been a spark,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on SportsNet LA. “I think the last week we’ve seen Teo really come to life and really carry us, and the last couple nights it’s been fun to watch Kyle build some confidence.
“You see the swings, getting some very good results. He had a big night tonight, and you can just see him freed up a little bit.
He’s been working hard this whole year and he’s been in it. I give him a lot of credit for continuing to persevere and expect the best of him at the end of the season.”
That’s a much different picture than the one Tucker carried into Friday. Before the game, he was hitting .225/.323/.361 on the season with 13 home runs and a 93 wRC+ after signing a historic four-year, $240 million deal in the offseason.
The slump had brought plenty of frustration, but the Dodgers kept sticking with him because of the work he was putting in behind the curtain. Tucker had been trying to clean up his swing, and the first real sign of progress came on Sept. 4, when he crushed a home run on a 99 mph fastball at the top of the zone.
Since then, the results have kept coming, and Roberts said the turnaround has been tied to Tucker’s mechanics.
“I’m not a person that’s talking about mechanics too often, but I do think in this particular situation, he’s cleaned up his bat path and he’s staying in the hitting zone a lot longer,” Roberts said. “Whereas before, breaking balls, he wasn’t staying on. Fastballs, he was underneath.
“But I think right now, he’s in a great spot mechanically and with the confidence he has in his swing.”
The recent power surge has included consecutive home runs for the first time since July 24-25, and two of Tucker’s nine three-hit games this year have come in September. Roberts said the speed of the turnaround stood out, too.
“It’s happened quickly,” Roberts said. “I know that the hitting coaches kind of unlocked something with Kyle, and it’s just good to see it translated that quickly. Because most the time things like that take a while; 15, 20 at-bats.
“But it kind of happened overnight with the results, so really happy to see that.”
Roberts had already made clear before the game on Aug. 21 that he was watching Tucker’s mental and emotional state as closely as the box score.
“That’s what I’m locking in on,” Roberts said before the game on Aug. 21.
“Players go through it, it’s a long season, a tough season. Every situation is different.
“For me, it’s about getting to the core of what’s going through his head and trying to, like I said a few days ago, he’s not on an island.
“I’m here to support him and anything we can do to unlock him, we’re going to do. So I really feel that we turned a corner.
I really do. I can’t speak to what he’s going to do tonight at the plate, but I feel mentally and emotionally, he’s freed up.
Don’t know what that looks like, but I’m encouraged.”
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