When the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Kyle Tucker to a $240 million deal in free agency, many thought they were locked into a three-peat.
However, Tucker has been terrible at the plate this year, hitting just .226 with a .692 OPS. For the second consecutive season, his home and away splits are a concern. He is hitting below .200 at home, but has an .809 OPS on the road. Many teams would have platooned him or benched him by now, but the Dodgers are not doing so.
Perhaps it's because of the money they have committed to him, but Dave Roberts made it clear that the team is going to roll with him.
“I told him, I’m gonna ride or die with him,” Roberts said this weekend, per the California Post's Jack Harris.
Tucker had back-to-back three-hit games last week, one against the Miami Marlins and one against the Cincinnati Reds. He homered in each of those games, but went 0-for-8 in his last two games. Even though one of his home runs came off a position player, Roberts thinks Tucker is showing some signs of life lately.
“I was prepared, the organization was prepared, to give him as much leash as we possibly could to work through some things, and I do think that now we’re starting to see the fruits,” Roberts said. “So I see no other reason why we would pivot from running him out there every day.”