WEBVTT - "Let's Talk Kyle Tucker Turkey" 0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:08.600 Please help the show by leaving a rating and review 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:15.319 on Apple Podcasts today. Thanks for listening. Let's get onto 0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:32.760 this one Portees Dover, Hello, and welcome to Dodger Blue Dream, 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:43.960 the most fun, silly, passionate, film, mic, fantastical, fan based, 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:55.720 orally stimulating, anecdotal, alliterative fashion of baseball storytelling. I'm your host, 0:00:56.320 --> 0:01:00.400 Richard Parks the third. I'm a writer in podcast and 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:05.840 lifelong baseball fan from the mean streets of Los Angeles. 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:14.080 And for today's episode, let's talk Turkey about Tucker. Kyle Tucker. 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:18.240 Tucker Turkey, Kyle. 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:22.240 Tucker, with a Welcome to Los Angeles. Kyle, my name 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:23.040 is Kyle Tucker. 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:26.920 If you've been living under a rock, or if you're 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:31.000 just not following the Dodgers super closely, which is fine, 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:36.720 you're welcome here. In fact, we encourage your presence. Kyle 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:41.240 Tucker is playing right field for the Dodgers during this 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:44.840 twenty twenty six season. He's a new player on this 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.560 ball club. He came to us via a free agency 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:53.360 in the off season. He signed a record contract, record high. 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:58.000 We'll get into that. And he's kind of meant to 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:01.840 be the last piece to make this team really unstoppable 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:07.000 offensively and defensively, at least. The idea being this Dodgers 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:10.880 team has won two consecutive World Series titles, and we 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:14.240 have that same roster this year, except we added Kyle 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:18.760 Tucker into that, and we're improving ourselves in right field, 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.520 and we're improving the team in terms of his left 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:24.680 handed bat in the lineup. So that's sort of the 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:31.240 high level context. But yes, there is a butt, a 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:37.760 huge butt. It's not really working out. Kyle Tucker has 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:42.400 had a season long slump during his first year with 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:46.400 the Dodgers, and it has gotten worse of late, so 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:51.000 bad in fact, that earlier this week on the Dodgers 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:57.600 television broadcast, Dodgers color commentator and former Rookie of the 0:02:57.680 --> 0:03:03.280 Year Los Angeles Dodger former all time LA Dodger home 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:08.280 run leader before Max Munsey came along, Eric Carros suggested 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:12.080 on air that Kyle Tucker just take a break. 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:15.839 I honestly, like, I honestly think the best thing right 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:18.800 now is a reso. 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:24.080 Tucker had just made out in a game against the 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:27.600 Rockies where the rest of the Dodgers offense was exploding 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:30.560 after the collective team slump that we covered in our 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:35.040 last episode. Was I right about Colorado or what? On Monday, 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:37.720 during the first game of this series, the Dodgers offense 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:42.800 exploded alive for eleven runs, but in which Kyle Tucker 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:47.480 went oh for five and dropped an easy to play 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:49.120 fly ball in the outfield. 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:51.240 And I don't care. 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.720 I like this organization has done it in the past. 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:59.800 Now I've seen it. You know it's you know, look, 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:02.760 you you've got a month and a half and you've 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:04.360 tried things here and like I. 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:06.240 Said, it just. 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:08.880 I think you'd eat a research. 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:15.240 Let's talk Tucker Turkey, Kyle Tucker. We'll dig into all 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:18.640 of it and have a fun time doing it. After 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:40.480 a short break, stay right here, no flipping, Welcome. 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:43.039 Back to the show. It's Dodger Blue Dream. 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.000 I'm Richard Parks, the third and today we are talking 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:50.359 all about Kyle Tucker, the Dodgers right fielder knew this 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:55.280 season who came to the team with great expectations, but 0:04:55.320 --> 0:05:00.640 things are not panning out. Let's go back to when 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:03.680 Kyle Tucker signed to the Dodgers in the offseason, talked 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:09.920 about the expectations. His nickname is King Tuck and he's 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:13.880 been around a while, so Dodger fans, baseball fans know 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:17.200 who this guy is. He's already had a long, great career, 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:21.000 a lot of it with the Houston Astros, a franchise 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:25.640 that Dodger fans in general have animosity towards because of 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:31.480 accusations that there was cheating during the twenty seventeen World 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:35.680 Series between the Astros and the Dodgers, which the Astros won. 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:39.840 But there's an asterisk there because they were stealing signs, 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:43.800 banging on trash cans so that whoever was in the 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:46.760 batter's box would know what kind of pitch was coming. Anyway, 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.160 Kyle Tucker wasn't on those teams, but he was on 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:54.039 other great Houston Astros teams, and then he was in 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:57.080 Chicago with the Cubs for a year, sort of a 0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:00.560 gap year where he was betting on himself to have 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:04.719 a good season and then go into free agency to 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:06.040 time the market. 0:06:06.120 --> 0:06:08.120 And that really worked out for him. 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:10.520 Because, like I said, he signed a huge deal with 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:13.359 the Dodgers. The sum total is two hundred and forty 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:18.560 million for four years, which is massive and record in 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:22.760 terms of the average annual value of that deal. So 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:26.960 Kyle Tucker is making sixty million dollars this season, and 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:31.839 that is more than anybody is making on this Dodgers 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:35.720 team except for show Hey o Tani. Show Hayes contract 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:40.640 carries a seventy million dollar annual face value, though much 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:44.960 of that is deferred and he'll be paid in future years, 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:49.200 so you could argue that with inflation, the value of 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:53.719 Kyle Tucker's contract is higher. But anyway, next to show Hey, 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:57.680 Kyle Tucker's making much more than any other of his 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:01.160 teammates and anyone else in the Big League. Max Munsey, 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:04.840 by comparison, who is an All Star this year and 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:08.919 a huge contributor to this team, is making about ten million. 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:10.840 For the Dodgers. 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:15.360 There were other costs sort of hidden, including a sixty 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:19.240 plus million dollars signing bonus, and given that Tucker had 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:24.080 declined what's called the qualifying offer, which is it's a 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:28.800 one year deal automatically calculated by averaging the top one 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:32.960 hundred and twenty five players' salary in the prior year, 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:35.679 So this year it would be a little over twenty 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:39.320 million that the Cubs offered Tucker and he turned down 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:44.320 to come to the Dodgers. Because Tucker turned down that 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:48.120 qualifying offer and instead came to the Dodgers. The Dodgers 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:52.400 also gave up some draft picks in the coming years, 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:57.239 Basically when their number comes up, the Dodgers will miss 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:01.000 a couple rounds in exchange for getting Kyle Tucker. 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:04.120 So this is a very high cost. And I tell 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:04.760 you all. 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:09.520 Of this because that means that the expectations for Kyle 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:14.080 Tucker's performance were very high going into this season. To 0:08:14.160 --> 0:08:18.360 one extent or another, pretty much all Dodger fans know 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:22.520 Tucker is carrying this price. Tech When the news came 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:26.320 out that Tucker would be coming to the Dodgers, everybody 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:30.760 was super stoked. He was the most attractive position player 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:34.480 on the market this offseason. In an episode that we 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:38.120 put out on this podcast breaking down the news of 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:42.080 the signing, I had a fellow Dodgers podcaster, Jeff Snyder 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:47.080 on Jeff described Kyle Tucker as a Hall of Fame 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:52.640 level hitter. He also is has been an elite fielder. 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:55.640 He won the Gold Glove in twenty twenty two. And 0:08:55.679 --> 0:09:00.760 because last year we had an outfield where task Hernandez 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:04.040 was playing in right not looking great, making a lot 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:07.160 of bad plays out there, just not being the right 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:11.439 fielder that you want in your outfield when you're a. 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:12.559 Super great team. 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:17.560 And we had had Michael Conforto in left field, who 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:22.200 was basically the twenty twenty five version of Kyle Tucker, 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:26.000 a free agent signing and a left handed bat playing 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:29.840 in the outfield, but he could just not hit Michael 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:32.319 Conforto Michael kant Forto. 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:35.960 A lot of people joked, and that was generally true. 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:40.280 It was a disappointing addition to the team in twenty 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:44.560 twenty five to have Michael Conforto, and compounding that to 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:47.760 ask for Hernandez had moved from left field to right 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:52.320 to make room for Michael Conforto, and Tao was not 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.440 a good right fielder. So Kyle Tucker was like an 0:09:55.559 --> 0:10:01.280 upgrade of the Michael kan't Foordah situation. He even is 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:04.760 wearing the same number Michael Confordo did, number twenty three. 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:10.479 Also by taking right field and ostensibly bringing above average 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:15.040 defense to right, putting Tao back in left. He can 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:18.440 do better out there, Tao can. The whole thing is 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:22.439 an upgrade for the team as opposed to Michael Cantfordo. 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:26.120 You had this Hall of Fame level bat coming in 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:33.120 so especially after the disappointment of Michael Conforto, once again 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:38.680 fans were stoked to squint and see a better player 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:42.040 out there wearing the same number. Scraped that other guy off, 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:45.400 and we got this shiny new version. And while his 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:52.240 overall postseason stats are not overwhelmingly great, he's had some 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:55.240 great moments in the postseason in the past with the 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:59.880 Astros hitting big home runs. In twenty twenty one, he 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:04.800 had a great postseason, and in twenty twenty two, King 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:10.000 Tuck had a huge day at the plate in the 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:15.160 first game of the World Series Astros versus Phillies. He 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:18.120 hit two home runs that day and drove in four, 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:21.480 and then the Astros went on to win the World 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:24.839 Series title in twenty twenty two with Dusty Baker as 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:29.400 their manager, former Dodger fair and square. So that is 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:33.720 also an attractive quality because that reputation is something that 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:36.880 baseball fans watched super closely, Especially for a team like 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:42.000 the Dodgers that is basically guaranteed a postseason birth and 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:45.760 has this expectation of making it to a third consecutive 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:49.959 World Series and winning, fans look at that closely. So yeah, 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:55.240 everybody was stoked as I keep saying, but I want 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:58.080 you to understand. I want you to have the context. 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:04.679 Last thing I will say about Kyle Tucker and the expectations. 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:09.080 A lot of teams were in on the Kyle Tucker 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:14.840 sweepstakes over this past offseason, like the Blue Jays, the Dodgers' 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:19.920 twenty twenty five World Series opponents. Apparently Tucker spurned them 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:23.800 after for some time there was a lot of speculation 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:27.160 that the Blue Jays were the favorites to sign Tucker. 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:32.439 Had Tucker gone to the Blue Jays or another of 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:36.200 the various teams that were said to pursue him in 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:40.679 free agency, he might have kind of been more positioned 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:43.439 as like a face of the franchise. 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:46.559 With the Dodgers, there's Mookie. 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:51.920 Freddie, Shohei Yama, you know, even Teo and fan favorites 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:56.640 like Kei k A Munsei. On the Dodgers, Kyle Tucker 0:12:56.720 --> 0:13:01.640 would be joining a constellation of stars, and that suited 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:05.040 him because he was said to be the type of 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:08.679 guy who doesn't want to be the guy. He has 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:12.960 a reputation for a reserved and kind of maybe private 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:18.040 withheld demeanor, and he lets his bat and his glove 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:22.640 do the talking more than playing to the media or 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:26.920 being a standout personality in the clubhouse like a KIK 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:36.160 for example. And Kyle Tucker's contract also included opt outs. 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:41.439 After two years or three years in LA, Tucker could 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:45.079 decide to opt out of his contract. Why would he 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:48.800 do that when he's making sixty million dollars a year. Well, 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:52.280 that meant for Tucker that if he had a great 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:55.160 couple years in LA, he could go out and try 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:58.440 free agency again if he felt like that was his 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:01.800 best option. He's twenty nine years old, so he's still 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:04.760 very much in his prime. If he bangs in LA, 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:08.920 maybe he could go get another bag, as they say, 0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:13.080 in another city, with a longer term deal, worth more 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:17.560 overall money and with a big change like switching cities. 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:20.680 I guess the idea of a contract opt out also 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:27.560 accounts for there's a person involved here with a family, friends, routines, 0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:33.880 et cetera. Sometimes things just don't work out. That's what 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:40.840 in the podcasting biz we call foreshadowing. And with that, 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:47.560 we've talked about Kyle Tucker's contract and the expectations for 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:52.440 him coming into this twenty twenty six season. Enough after 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:57.280 the break, we'll get into Kyle Tucker is a Dodger 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:01.320 during the first year this contract, and take stock of 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:05.360 where we're at with King Tuck. Here in late August 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:27.480 of twenty twenty six stay tuned, Welcome back to the show. 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:32.120 It's Dodger Blue Dream. Before the break, we told you 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:36.480 everything you could possibly want to know about Kyle Tucker's 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:41.440 signing with the Dodgers, his contract, and the expectations the 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:45.800 typical Dodger fan had for King Tuck going into the 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:49.520 twenty twenty sixth season. Now, let's take stock of what's 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:54.480 happened this year so far. One of the first glimpses 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:59.120 we had close up of Kyle Tucker was in spring 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:05.080 training March of this year. Sportsnet LA's reporter Kirsten Watson 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:11.720 interviewed Kyle in the dugout at spring training during a game, collations. 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:13.040 You were away from this team because you and your wife, 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:16.760 Samantha welcomed a baby boy. How exciting are you? I mean, 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:19.520 what have you learned thus far a fatherhood? 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:23.400 I mean, it's awesome. It was. It was really fun 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:27.000 to exciting to be there and experienced that with you know, 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:29.240 both our families and everyone there. So we have a 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:32.880 good support group back home taking care of everyone right now. 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:35.200 So they're doing well. It's it's been a lot of fun. 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:39.960 Only home for a few days, but glad I got 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:40.520 some time thin. 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:44.520 Kyle and his wife Samantha had just welcomed the baby 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:46.200 boy named fred Wick and. 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:47.000 Your brother played. 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:49.560 You've already thought like, wow, we could really have a 0:16:49.600 --> 0:16:51.120 future All Star on our hands. 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:53.800 Yeah, a lot of potential, a lot of potential. We 0:16:53.840 --> 0:16:56.840 gotta we gotta see what we got. But yeah, I 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:58.000 mean as as. 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:02.800 A new team, new city, newborn baby boy, that's a 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:03.640 lot of changes. 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:09.080 You looking forward to just opening at Dodger Cdium. 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:11.919 I mean, I'm excited. I know they got you know, 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:13.200 the ring ceremony and everything. 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:15.520 Nice motivation. 0:17:15.800 --> 0:17:17.840 I'll be cheering them on then, so hopefully we can 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:18.640 do it again next year. 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:22.800 And later that month at Dodger Stadium, Kyle Tucker made 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:27.479 his Dodger debut and everything went to plan. The Boys 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:32.040 in Blue one eight to two over the Diamondbacks, and 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:35.760 King Tuck got his first hit as a Dodger and 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:39.320 RBI double and he scored a run. He sat for 0:17:39.359 --> 0:17:44.680 a postgame interview with Bob Costas Uni dirtyll. 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:46.679 RBI double and a run scored as the Dodger scored 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:48.880 four in the bottle of the seventh broke the game open. 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:51.800 This is your first game that's counted as a Dodger, 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:54.600 taking springs raining out of it. How does it feel 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:57.320 to wear the uniform of the two time world champions? 0:17:57.600 --> 0:17:59.959 It feels great. Hopefully at the end of this year 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:02.159 we can become a third third in a row. But 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:04.520 I mean started off well tonight. 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:08.159 And you could see not a guy who hams it 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:13.159 up or particularly loves the spotlight, but comfortable in his 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:18.960 own skin. It's unbelievable night and most importantly performing. Looking 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:22.240 back on the highlights from this game, it's endearing seeing 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:26.720 Tucker arrive safely at second and kind of awkwardly do 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:31.240 the little Freddy dance celebration that the Dodgers do, looking 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:33.639 at the dugout at his teammates like, eh, am, I 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:37.560 doing this right. But also something that we haven't seen 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:40.960 a whole heck of a lot of since, certainly recently, 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:47.240 big smile across the face. Throughout that first month of April, 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:50.560 in his first twenty five games as a Dodger, Tucker 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:56.000 managed just three home runs and thirteen RBIs across ninety 0:18:56.040 --> 0:19:00.639 seven at bats. His slugging percentage was three ninety two month, 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:03.760 and he drew fourteen walks but struck out twenty one 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:09.439 times with a seven thirty one ops. Certainly not the 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:13.880 type of offensive numbers you would expect from a sixty 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:20.000 million dollar acquisition, well below Tucker's career averages in those departments. 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:24.119 When asked about the pressure that Tucker might feel trying 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:27.040 to live up to his massive contract during the month 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:31.400 of April, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, I think there's 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:35.639 a little bit to that quote. Typically when guys chase, 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:39.200 they're trying to do a little bit too much end quote. 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:44.879 But generally speaking, as Tucker looked not that impressive in 0:19:44.920 --> 0:19:48.240 the early months of the season, everybody just chalked it 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:51.440 up to it's a time of transition, with all the 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:55.320 changes professionally and personally Tucker had going on. 0:19:57.480 --> 0:19:58.440 We'll check some bag. 0:19:58.520 --> 0:20:03.360 Yeah, it should be interesting. That's kind of wild. 0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:08.240 Kyle Tucker with an absolute bomb. Welcome to Los Angeles, Kyle. 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:11.800 My name is Kyle Tucker. Done, and this is my 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:12.520 new hometown. 0:20:12.920 --> 0:20:16.080 The one and only Los Angeles, LA is a city 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:16.600 of layers. 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:21.919 I remember distinctly when in mid May on Instagram, Kyle 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:27.600 Tucker promoted a spawn con video made with Chase Sapphire 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:32.600 and the Food website the infatuation about his off day 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:36.840 eating his way around Los Angeles, seeing as it was 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:41.520 one of the only glimpses at his personality that we 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:46.800 were getting, and seeing that it was obviously fabricated and 0:20:47.040 --> 0:20:51.439 also obviously transactional and involved, I can only assume his 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:54.480 making more money kind of on the side, and it's 0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:58.120 about taking time off. There was something about it that 0:20:58.400 --> 0:21:02.959 I didn't love. It felt different than Mooky promoting an 0:21:02.960 --> 0:21:06.560 episode of his podcast Muki, who is having a down 0:21:06.640 --> 0:21:10.360 year but is a probable Hall of Famer and who 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:14.600 has won three World Series titles in Los Angeles, so 0:21:14.680 --> 0:21:17.639 I feel like he's earned it. Kyle Tucker, on the 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:21.639 other hand, is here to prove himself in fans' eyes. 0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:24.920 At least that's how we were feeling back in May 0:21:25.040 --> 0:21:28.479 when he put out this video and he wasn't really hitting, 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:33.639 and then by June, let's see June seventh, Tucker was 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:37.920 hitting two point forty with five home runs, twenty nine 0:21:38.000 --> 0:21:42.679 runs batted in, and a seven twenty six ops. Still 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:46.840 well below career norms, and he was swinging and missing 0:21:47.000 --> 0:21:49.720 a lot at the plate, which never looks good and 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:53.119 also was a typical for him compared with earlier in 0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:57.720 his career. His exit velocity was below average, as was 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:02.760 his hard hit percentage, but his IF rate was above average. 0:22:02.840 --> 0:22:05.920 It was time for Dave Roberts to answer the media's 0:22:06.000 --> 0:22:11.080 questions once again. I wouldn't say disappointed, Doc was quoted 0:22:11.480 --> 0:22:15.400 as saying in Sports Illustrated. I would say, I'm probably 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:18.720 just hoping that there's some traction for him, and for 0:22:18.760 --> 0:22:22.400 our sake, you just hope he can find something that sticks. 0:22:23.600 --> 0:22:24.840 End quote. 0:22:25.400 --> 0:22:29.480 In mid June, Tucker was hitting two thirty three, about 0:22:29.520 --> 0:22:34.320 thirty points below his career baseline. His ops plus was 0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:38.159 one oh two, meaning overall as a hitter, he was 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:43.959 performing exactly two percent better than league average, basically exactly average. 0:22:44.600 --> 0:22:49.040 As fans' frustrations grew and there were more articles taking 0:22:49.119 --> 0:22:53.400 stock of Tucker's down year, which continued through the month 0:22:53.440 --> 0:22:56.119 of July, and it was clear that this slump was 0:22:56.160 --> 0:23:00.399 not just a slump, but a season long slump. Started 0:23:00.440 --> 0:23:03.720 looking for answers, what's going on? This guy was a 0:23:03.800 --> 0:23:06.960 top ten hitter before he came to the Dodgers. There's 0:23:07.040 --> 0:23:10.679 not one big flashing reason, read an article in MLB 0:23:10.840 --> 0:23:14.359 dot Com in late July. There's just minor declines in 0:23:14.440 --> 0:23:17.240 many ways, which all add up to something like a 0:23:17.320 --> 0:23:20.719 league average hitter, hardly the star the Dodgers thought they 0:23:20.760 --> 0:23:23.520 were getting. Tucker was striking out a little more than 0:23:23.560 --> 0:23:27.840 in prior years, walking a little less, getting fewer balls 0:23:27.840 --> 0:23:31.840 in the air, hitting the ball less hard, and chasing more. 0:23:32.160 --> 0:23:34.760 But he was still above average in some of those 0:23:34.960 --> 0:23:40.600 underlying stat categories. And yet on July twenty eighth, he 0:23:40.720 --> 0:23:43.760 was hitting two thirty nine with just a three thirty 0:23:43.760 --> 0:23:47.600 four slug and a three seventy six on base percentage 0:23:47.680 --> 0:23:51.320 and nine home runs, and far from the guy who 0:23:51.400 --> 0:23:54.240 won a Gold Glove in twenty twenty two. He was 0:23:54.359 --> 0:23:59.360 ranked last amongst all right fielders in defensive runs saved. 0:24:01.040 --> 0:24:04.120 As the dog days of August arrived, the Dodgers kind 0:24:04.119 --> 0:24:07.760 of went into a team wide offensive slump, which hopefully 0:24:07.760 --> 0:24:10.840 they're just breaking out of. This week, there were finally 0:24:10.960 --> 0:24:14.720 some signs of life from Tucker. Ironically, during this team 0:24:14.760 --> 0:24:17.760 wide slump, he had a nice little seven game hitting 0:24:17.760 --> 0:24:21.000 streak that went through the first week of August, it 0:24:21.040 --> 0:24:24.959 looked like maybe, as the team's collective woes were increasing, 0:24:25.280 --> 0:24:30.280 Tucker was finally finding something. But then on August tenth, 0:24:30.840 --> 0:24:35.920 Tucker's offensive contributions fell off a cliff. He went completely 0:24:36.080 --> 0:24:40.359 hitless for a week, over for an entire series against 0:24:40.359 --> 0:24:43.200 the Kansas City Royals, and then the next one against 0:24:43.200 --> 0:24:46.880 the Milwaukee Brewers, all home at Dodger Stadium in front 0:24:46.960 --> 0:24:49.600 of us the fans. He was even benched in one 0:24:49.640 --> 0:24:52.960 of these games because the media started underlying one of 0:24:53.000 --> 0:24:57.280 the most troubling aspects of Tucker's year long slump. He 0:24:57.520 --> 0:25:01.119 was even worse at home than he was on the road, 0:25:01.520 --> 0:25:03.960 and Dave Roberts took him out of one of those 0:25:03.960 --> 0:25:06.920 games against the Brewers to give him a mental reset. 0:25:07.640 --> 0:25:11.280 But then the next day, at a disappointing game I attended, 0:25:11.680 --> 0:25:14.600 a loss for the Dodgers, their third loss of four 0:25:14.640 --> 0:25:18.760 games against the Brewers, Tucker went hitless again and he 0:25:18.880 --> 0:25:20.720 dropped a ball in the outfield. 0:25:21.200 --> 0:25:24.120 Oh, Tucker couldn't catch. 0:25:23.880 --> 0:25:25.520 It second third. 0:25:25.680 --> 0:25:29.480 Luckily no one scored. As a silver lining there. 0:25:31.440 --> 0:25:35.720 An we'll get the reaction you would expect from the 0:25:35.800 --> 0:25:36.520 fans here. 0:25:40.440 --> 0:25:45.480 Fans at Dodger Stadium booed him, and it seemed like 0:25:45.600 --> 0:25:52.399 he couldn't go any lower. Luckily, the team was leaving 0:25:52.480 --> 0:25:56.760 town after that day game to fly to Colorado, where 0:25:56.800 --> 0:26:01.359 beautiful women instinctively flocked like the salmon of Capistrano, to 0:26:01.440 --> 0:26:05.719 Chorus Field to play the last place Rockies in the 0:26:05.760 --> 0:26:10.200 most hitter friendly ballpark in the Big Leagues. The ball 0:26:10.280 --> 0:26:13.800 flies in the thin mountain air. If there was anywhere 0:26:13.840 --> 0:26:17.280 that the Dodgers could turn around their offensive struggles, it 0:26:17.320 --> 0:26:21.040 would be a chorus Field. As I predicted in last 0:26:21.080 --> 0:26:24.440 week's episode, this is where we can find a spark 0:26:25.000 --> 0:26:26.920 that will light the fire under this. 0:26:27.080 --> 0:26:32.040 Murderer's row of an offense. And I was right. 0:26:32.800 --> 0:26:38.479 The team exploded for eleven runs, trouncing the Rockies, just 0:26:38.520 --> 0:26:47.639 what the doctor ordered, but unfortunately, Kyle Tucker did not 0:26:47.880 --> 0:26:54.480 get in on the fun. Tucker went over five, increasing 0:26:54.800 --> 0:27:00.879 a career high hitless streak over his last twenty five 0:27:01.000 --> 0:27:07.520 straight at bats, and to add insult to injury, he 0:27:07.600 --> 0:27:13.320 misplayed a totally routine fly ball in right field, uncertainly 0:27:13.560 --> 0:27:17.760 flipping his hand from palm out to a bucket catch, 0:27:17.920 --> 0:27:20.600 but then kind of second guessing it midway through and 0:27:20.640 --> 0:27:23.760 he ended up dropping a ball that glanced off his 0:27:23.840 --> 0:27:25.480 glove around his waistline. 0:27:25.840 --> 0:27:35.360 Stucker's ball way, he drops it, and that allowed an 0:27:35.400 --> 0:27:37.080 unearned run to come into score. 0:27:39.280 --> 0:27:42.800 I honestly like, I honestly think the best thing right 0:27:42.840 --> 0:27:45.920 now is a reset. 0:27:46.040 --> 0:27:50.560 It was during this game that Dodgers broadcaster Eric Carros 0:27:50.800 --> 0:27:55.560 suggested that Kyle Tucker have a reset. The idea of 0:27:55.600 --> 0:27:59.800 a reset being maybe Kyle Tucker has an injury and 0:28:00.040 --> 0:28:03.480 scare quotes, goes on what's known as the phantom il 0:28:04.000 --> 0:28:07.440