Speaker 1: And now an exclusive interview with David Bassey for Dodger Talk.
Speaker 2: Well, I finally cornered Kyle Tucker.
Speaker 3: He's got nowhere to go because he's on a machine
Speaker 3: right now that's given his back some sort of therapy.
Speaker 2: Kyle, thanks a lot for the time, appreciated.
Speaker 4: Thanks for cordering me.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I know right, you're buckled in. They you can't
Speaker 3: go anywhere. You're stuck talking to me.
Speaker 4: Oh perfect, right where I want to be.
Speaker 2: So what's this machine doing for your back right now?
Speaker 1: It's just like a PMF machine, just kind of just pulses.
Speaker 1: So there's like a couple of different like attachments that
Speaker 1: you can do to it, and a couple got like
Speaker 1: a couple of guys mostly pictures kind of use it.
Speaker 1: But it's just kind of like the electromagnetic waves and
Speaker 1: pulses through you. So I just came came here, sat
Speaker 1: down for a little.
Speaker 3: Bit to use it, and then I saw you, and
Speaker 3: then I saw Tommy Edmund doing this yesterday.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's not bad.
Speaker 1: I mean you just kind of sit down and hang
Speaker 1: out and let it, let it do his thing.
Speaker 3: How was the bag feeling today? You're not in the
Speaker 3: starting lineup?
Speaker 2: Good?
Speaker 3: Day to choose not to be in the starting lineup
Speaker 3: with this rain. But how's the bag feeling.
Speaker 1: It feels better. Kind of locked up yesterday and was
Speaker 1: kind of tight and sore. Today it's better, so kind
Speaker 1: of sore and bothers to kind of rotate a little bit,
Speaker 1: but it's better than yesterday.
Speaker 4: So that's that's good improvement. Kyle.
Speaker 3: Okay, A lot of people have asked you a lot
Speaker 3: of different questions that I'm not sure I would ask
Speaker 3: as far as your hitting goes. But I do have
Speaker 3: specific questions to ask you that nobody's asked. Number One,
Speaker 3: you're swinging at the first pitch more than you ever
Speaker 3: have in your career.
Speaker 2: Why do you think that is?
Speaker 1: I was, I think at the beginning of the season.
Speaker 1: I mean, it kind of just depends. I mean, if
Speaker 1: sometimes that's the best pitch you're going to get in
Speaker 1: that bat, I mean, if they're throwing it in the
Speaker 1: middle ish part of the zone, like I might as
Speaker 1: well swing at that, then take that and then have
Speaker 1: to swing at pitches on the corner. So I just
Speaker 1: gotta probably do a little bit. Petter jiz it not
Speaker 1: missing those ones.
Speaker 2: I guess.
Speaker 3: Dave Roberts said yesterday, You're a guy that would run
Speaker 3: counts deep, you know, be very selective.
Speaker 2: Do you feel like if you.
Speaker 3: Get back to doing that and maybe going back to
Speaker 3: who Kyle Tucker was swinging at the first pitch thirty
Speaker 3: four percent of the time, that could help you moving forward.
Speaker 4: I mean it just depends.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you get first pitch fastball in the middle,
Speaker 1: I mean that, like I said, that could be the
Speaker 1: best pitch that you're gonna see that at bat, So
Speaker 1: you just take your chances of that, and you know,
Speaker 1: if they throw something out of the zone, then you
Speaker 1: can work deeper into accounts. So it kind of just
Speaker 1: depends on the ad bat and how it goes. I mean,
Speaker 1: if you have four bats and the first pitch is
Speaker 1: all you know, fastball or something right down the middle,
Speaker 1: and you'd see four pitches, like I mean, you at
Speaker 1: least swung at the ones you wanted to swing at.
Speaker 1: It just kind of is a matter of fact of
Speaker 1: putting the barrel to the ball a little bit better
Speaker 1: and making things happen.
Speaker 3: Do you feel like pitchers are pitching you differently this
Speaker 3: year because it feels like those first pitches are a
Speaker 3: lot more spin than they were fastballs in years past.
Speaker 4: I think it just depends.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure teams look at how other team
Speaker 1: has fitched me and see whatever success that someone's had
Speaker 1: or what worked. So kind kind of just depends on
Speaker 1: the pitcher or the catcher, and like the team and
Speaker 1: their game plan and stuff. So I remember, regardless, I
Speaker 1: can got to hit it either way.
Speaker 3: All right, here's a right, hey, Miguel Rojas endorsing this
Speaker 3: interview right now in the rain delay with Kyle Tucker. Okay,
Speaker 3: so here's another one everybody trying to diagnose. Be Kyle
Speaker 3: Tucker's number one hitting coach no more. Garciapara did a
Speaker 3: whole thing on TV about just the way that your
Speaker 3: stride seems to be more than it has been in
Speaker 3: years past. Is that something that you're conscious of? Is
Speaker 3: it something that you're trying to shorten up? What do
Speaker 3: you say about the stride being too big this year?
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure it has, I mean has varied
Speaker 1: throughout my career. And sometimes I'm taller, sometimes I'm more
Speaker 1: closed or open. Sometimes it's trives a little bit bigger, shorter.
Speaker 4: Kind of just.
Speaker 1: Depends, and honestly, whatever's feeling right that day or whatever's
Speaker 1: working at the time, I just kind of ride with it.
Speaker 1: But this year have kind of been searching for what's
Speaker 1: worked and trying to make that consistent every single time.
Speaker 1: So it's kind of just been trying to find something
Speaker 1: that's working and just try and hold on to it.
Speaker 2: The last day at home, I thought it was amazing.
Speaker 3: I was waiting for you, Tucker, in front of your locker,
Speaker 3: and I was told that right after the final out
Speaker 3: of the game, you went into the cage to work
Speaker 3: to try to figure out whatever You're trying to figure out.
Speaker 2: Where does that come from?
Speaker 3: And do you believe too many swings can be counterproductive?
Speaker 4: I mean maybe at times. I mean.
Speaker 1: I mean I've hit after the game a couple of times,
Speaker 1: just trying to figure it out or hoping that something
Speaker 1: clicks so I go into the next day feeling better.
Speaker 1: So I mean, I mean hittings that constant, trying to
Speaker 1: get better. You're never gonna be perfect, but I'm just
Speaker 1: trying to find something that helps.
Speaker 3: I feel like All Star Break could help you reset,
Speaker 3: clear your mind, not have to talk to people like
Speaker 3: David Vass saying come back at Yankee Stadium and be
Speaker 3: Kyle Tucker.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, obviously I'd like to not have the
Speaker 1: time off. They're an ulcer break, because that means you
Speaker 1: played pretty well in the first half and you get
Speaker 1: the opportunity to play in the All Star Game. But
Speaker 1: just kind of most important thing is just trying to
Speaker 1: play better throughout the year. It gets to the playoffs
Speaker 1: and really take off from there.
Speaker 3: It feels like your teammates have continued to support you,
Speaker 3: love on you.
Speaker 2: How much has that meant?
Speaker 4: It's awesome.
Speaker 1: I mean this team is full of great talent and
Speaker 1: great people, So I mean everyone's here to try and
Speaker 1: one in another world's heeries and get back to the
Speaker 1: highest point in baseball. So I mean everyone's here to
Speaker 1: support each other and get better individually and as a
Speaker 1: group overall.
Speaker 2: All right, Kyle Tucker is our guest. It's a rain delay.
Speaker 3: He's in the chair that he can't move front for
Speaker 3: his back. So we're gonna find out about Kyle Tucker here.
Speaker 3: And he's such an introvert. We don't know a lot
Speaker 3: about you, but you told me that you love to travel,
Speaker 3: and you've actually been to countries like Italy.
Speaker 2: And you've been to Florence. You've been to Rome.
Speaker 3: So are you a guy that is inquisitive you want
Speaker 3: to know about history or do you want to just
Speaker 3: see and taste all the great food in Europe?
Speaker 4: More of the latter.
Speaker 1: I mean history is such school, It's not like my
Speaker 1: number one thing. But I like going around, like especially
Speaker 1: the off season. You don't have that much much of
Speaker 1: an off season, so you just try and take advantage
Speaker 1: of it, like going some vacations, traveling around and seeing
Speaker 1: some places I haven't been to, So probably do some
Speaker 1: more of that this next offseason, you know, later on.
Speaker 1: But I'm in school, I try and find different things
Speaker 1: I've never tried before, seen before, and do my research
Speaker 1: on the stuff.
Speaker 3: How adventurous were you as far as eating in Europe?
Speaker 2: Would you go? Squid? How far will Kyle Tucker go?
Speaker 3: As far as the delicacies of European life?
Speaker 1: I mean, I'll try majority of things. If it's like
Speaker 1: too weird or just not up my alley, I'm out.
Speaker 1: But I mean you can know is just find some
Speaker 1: places that are you know, you can find all over
Speaker 1: the place, all over the world, and like the safe
Speaker 1: the safe go tos. But I'm always up to trying
Speaker 1: different restaurants. And different foods and stuff.
Speaker 3: What was the best part of your trip to Rome?
Speaker 3: If you're trying to give us a scatting report on Rome.
Speaker 3: Was it the Colisseum? Was it just seeing the Vatican?
Speaker 3: Seeing the people? What was it about Rome that people
Speaker 3: hyped up that the Tuckers loved.
Speaker 1: I mean we stayed at a place like kind of
Speaker 1: near a bunch of other attractions, so we were able
Speaker 1: to walk around the streets and kind of just not
Speaker 1: have like a set like timeframe or like excursion or anything.
Speaker 1: We just kind of walked around dinner own thing for
Speaker 1: a couple of days, and then to ended up doing
Speaker 1: a tour of Vatican City and going or the church
Speaker 1: and everything. So, I mean, the place is massive. I've
Speaker 1: never been there before other than that one time, so
Speaker 1: it's pretty impressive. So we did a tour through there
Speaker 1: one day and kind of just going around seeing the city,
Speaker 1: trying and find some cool restaurants and stuff and or
Speaker 1: like scenes to go check out.
Speaker 3: Yeah, what was nightlife like in Rome? Was there any
Speaker 3: night life for you and and your wife?
Speaker 1: We weren't going out and like partying in the clubs
Speaker 1: out in Rome.
Speaker 2: You didn't they call him disco text Tucker.
Speaker 1: And we weren't going to the disco text, but we
Speaker 1: just had We had a good time.
Speaker 4: It was fun, all right.
Speaker 3: So Vatican City, were you there when Pope Leo was
Speaker 3: the pope or was it still in between popes? Because
Speaker 3: Pope Leo big baseball fan, big White Sox fan, he
Speaker 3: might know who Kyle Tucker is.
Speaker 1: I mean we went at the very end of twenty three.
Speaker 2: Okay, I don't think he was there yet.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So, I mean it was cool just to go
Speaker 1: check out the places. I mean, we try and try
Speaker 1: and go over there whenever we can or find enough time.
Speaker 1: I know, we got a you know, three and a
Speaker 1: half month old now, so it's definitely gonna make it
Speaker 1: a little tough for traveling around. We try and do
Speaker 1: it before like the tough stages kind of really start
Speaker 1: kicking in. We don't have enough time to go over
Speaker 1: and do things. So we're hopefully trying to go over
Speaker 1: there again soon.
Speaker 2: Kyle Tucker is a big golfer.
Speaker 3: Have you gone over there and golfed in Scotland or
Speaker 3: Ireland yet?
Speaker 1: I haven't played golf over there yet. My family and
Speaker 1: I went over there like years ago, maybe like eight
Speaker 1: ten years ago or something, we ended up going to
Speaker 1: place in Scotland and it was pouring rain and we
Speaker 1: were staying out, like I guess it was like a
Speaker 1: golfer's order something. But was looking outside and it was
Speaker 1: pouring rain, and I see people like walking the course
Speaker 1: and I was like that it kind of looks miserable.
Speaker 1: But I guess it's relatively normal over there with the
Speaker 1: weather and people loving to go play golf, and that
Speaker 1: might be your only opportunity to play that course in
Speaker 1: such a just place, So I get it. But I mean,
Speaker 1: if it's pouring and lightning and thought it like, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm I'm good to go inside.
Speaker 4: My round's probably over.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree with you. At least we agree on that, Tucker.
Speaker 2: We agree on a lot.
Speaker 3: Maybe you and me will go on to European vacation
Speaker 3: this offseason. You could say you're bringing your wife, I'm
Speaker 3: bringing my wife and kids, and you know, we could
Speaker 3: we could have a wingman for each other there.
Speaker 2: I'm going in November, Tucker. Maybe you want to plan that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, perfect, we might cross paths.
Speaker 2: Do I like that? I like that.
Speaker 3: A lot of people are giving us weird looks walking
Speaker 3: by this chat I mean, has nobody ever seen a
Speaker 3: guy getting some back therapy and doing an interview.
Speaker 4: I don't know. It might be first time a right, love.
Speaker 2: It, hey, Vessi, he's a big Vassa fan. Don't let
Speaker 2: him fool you right there, Tucker Dave.
Speaker 1: I can't believe that you're doing this interview while you're
Speaker 1: on Tucker's back right now.
Speaker 2: I can't believe it. Man, let him rest, okay. I
Speaker 2: feel like I'm great therapy for his back. Vessia, No way, no.
Speaker 4: Way, absolutely not. Please let the man rest.
Speaker 2: Okay. You've never seen him smile this big since he
Speaker 2: got here. Since.
Speaker 4: That's a lie, That is an absolute lie.
Speaker 1: I've seen talk smile many times, actually many.
Speaker 4: That helps with the smiling for sure.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Evaluate the beard. You think the beard there's like a
Speaker 3: bird nesting in the beard, Tucker.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 1: It's definitely getting getting a little long and scruffy right now.
Speaker 2: Multiple people talk about me shaving it, cutting it.
Speaker 4: I'm not gonna do it. I'm not gonna do it.
Speaker 4: All right.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 3: Defining mesia, defiant mesia right there, Tucker. See you didn't
Speaker 3: get this in Houston or Chicago.
Speaker 1: Tucker, you're You're definitely one of the con.
Speaker 3: Thanks a lot for the time. Great to share you
Speaker 3: with Dodger fans. It's not all about baseball. Tucker's a
Speaker 3: well rounded man right here. Hope the bag feels better
Speaker 3: and I feel like, definitely this is gonna help you
Speaker 3: get ready for San Diego. Here's my recommendation. I know
Speaker 3: the trainers around here can appreciate this. Take it easy,
Speaker 3: we'll see you so we'll see you Friday in San Diego.
Speaker 4: Awesome, sounds good. Thanks