Dodgers' Kyle Tucker Disagrees With Dave Roberts' Assessment of Early-Season Struggles

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was asked by reporters over the weekend why he thought Kyle Tucker was struggling at the plate to start the season.

Tucker is hitting .237 with one home run, nine runs batted in, three stolen bags and a .657 OPS across 59 at-bats. Roberts acknowledged part of the problem may be because the Dodgers star is trying too hard to impress his new team.

“I think there’s a little bit to that,” Roberts said. “Typically when guys chase, they’re trying to do a little bit too much.”

However, Tucker did not agree with his manager's assessment.

“I don’t try to do too much or try and do certain things,” Tucker said to The Athletic. “I just try and be the same player every single time. Sometimes you have good games, sometimes you don’t.”

“I’ve missed some pitches that I feel the at-bat should have been over with,” Tucker added to the California Post. “Then you just get deeper into counts. And then whatever happens after that, happens.”

Tucker's strikeout rate as well as swing-and-miss totals have drastically increased. He has recorded 17 strikeouts through the first 16 games of the season.

His 24% strikeout rate is perhaps the most staggering statistic as he's never had one higher than 16% in the last five seasons.

“I mean, if I did what I wanted to do from the first swing, putting it in play, I don’t think I’d be swinging as much,” Tucker said to the California Post. “When you’re swinging at strikes and putting a barrel on the ball and staying through the ball well, better outcomes happen. But I kind of cut my swing off a little bit, don’t really stay through it great, and then you start fouling pitches off and chasing some later in some counts.

"That’s where a lot of the extra swings come from.”

Tucker remains positive about his inaugural season with the Dodgers, despite the early season setbacks with his bat.

“I play the same regardless of whatever is happening around me,” he said. “The fans make coming to the field a lot of fun. The guys make coming to the field every single day a lot of fun. So it’s been great.”

How are the Dodgers trying to remedy Tucker's struggles?

Roberts and Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc have discussed getting Tucker back to his hitting zone as he's tried to chase pitches down below.

“I talked to Robert [Van Scoyoc, hitting coach] and he said there’s some things that he’s seeing a little bit,” Roberts said. "I think we’ve seen it enough, as far as the last week or whatever, there’s been a lot more chase down below, is what I see. I see him as a high-ball hitter, and so I guess a little bit just kind of getting him back into his hitting zone, and then cleaning up a couple of the mechanical things that Robert sees. And they’ve had conversations.”

While the Dodgers' lineup gives them the luxury of not needing Tucker, there are 240 million reasons why the team would love to see him get going.

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