The Los Angeles Dodgers faced the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday night, marking Kyle Tucker's first return to Wrigley Field since leaving for the Dodgers in the offseason.
Tucker was acquired by the Cubs in a trade two offseasons ago, but played just one year in Chicago. He had a scorching start to the year, but was terrible in the second half, playing through injuries to help the team. He was met with boos in his return to Wrigley Field.
“I don’t know,” he said when asked about the boos afterward, per the New York Post's Jack Harris. “I tried my hardest last year. I tried playing through a hand fracture and calf thing, just trying to get back for the playoffs for them, trying to do what I could to help out the team.”
Tucker had a .231/.361/.378 slash line with just five home runs in the second half last season. He hit .259 in October and was starting to look more like himself. However, it was still a disappointing end to the year for him.
His season in Los Angeles has not gone well to this point either. He is hitting .240 with an OPS+ below 100. He has just nine homers on the season, after posting 112 homers in the last four seasons. In 2024, he hit 23 home runs in 78 games. Last season, he had 22 home runs in 136 games.
Many blamed Wrigley Field for his woes and home run numbers taking a dive. He had a .236 batting average with a .747 OPS at Wrigley Field. He had a .923 OPS on the road.
Tucker is trying to get things on track as the Dodgers go for a three-peat. Even with his struggles, the Dodgers have the second-best record in baseball and have a roster more than capable of making a deep run in October once again.