On the surface, Kyle Tucker has struggled at the plate when only accounting for his batting average (.200, 3-15), but he has demonstrated great patience at the plate.
Tucker has only appeared in eight games so far this spring, as he missed a generous amount of time to tend to his wife for the birth of their newborn son. He demonstrated his “dad strength” on Friday by launching his first home run in a Dodgers uniform, but his value hasn’t come from his bat; it’s from his vision.
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Tucker has walked six times compared to only two strikeouts. Combine those free passes with a hit by pitch, and Tucker has reached base in nearly half of his 22 plate appearances, good for a .455 on-base percentage. And that is exactly what Dave Roberts expects out of Tucker; to get on base at a consistent rate and set the table for the rest of the star hitters to follow, writes Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.
“For me, I just see him as a guy if he gets on base, however he gets on base, that’s the biggest – that’s something we’re looking for and something we’re counting on,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the role he envisions for Kyle Tucker. “Having Mookie (Betts) and Freddie (Freeman) behind him and Will (Smith) – if he’s a guy who gets on base at a high, high clip, then everything else will kind of fall into place.”
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Although Kiké Hernández was unable to participate in this year’s World Baseball Classic for Team Puerto Rico, he remarked on participating in the tournament is more significant than playing in the World Series, per Jack Vita of the Los Angeles Times.
“I said it feels bigger,” Hernández said. “I didn’t say it’s bigger. Atmosphere, crowd, you’re representing your country. You’re not representing a city. You don’t always choose who you play for. Sometimes that’s out of your control and you know, when you’re representing your country, you’re playing along with your homies. Sometimes you’re playing along with people that you grew up with. Your people back home are rooting for you, at times.”
Sonja Chen of MLB.com breaks down what to expect from the Dodgers as they enter their final week of Cactus League play, with one subject in particular to monitor being the competition for the starting second base job to begin the season. Chen notes that it’s a two-horse race between Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland, with the former clearly leading the way.
Kim went 6-for-13 (.462) in four Cactus League games, but he was only 1-for-12 with a home run in the Classic. Freeland has shown some impressive plate discipline, but perhaps a tad too much. He’s drawn 10 walks but hit only 4-for-31 (.129) in 14 games. As Roberts sees it, the competition “hasn’t changed a whole lot” since Kim left.
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