Kyle Tucker homered in his final at-bat Wednesday, a late burst that gave the Dodgers a needed jolt after he drove in the go-ahead run a day earlier. The four-time All-Star was signed to be an impact corner outfielder at the top of the lineup, and Wednesday was the kind of swing that can keep that idea alive.
Tucker, who is wearing no. 23, has spent the first part of the season trying to shake loose from a slow start. He has only three extra-base hits and a.343 slugging percentage, numbers that fall far short of the force the Dodgers expected when they brought him in. Still, he has reached base at a useful clip, with a 15 percent walk rate that ranks 33rd out of 189 qualified hitters.
That patience has come with a cost. Tucker said he has been “a bit too selective on my swing,” and added that he is trying to “narrow my zone a little bit and look in certain parts in the zone.” He said he wants to do a better job of picking his spots, getting early in counts and being ready when the pitch he wants is there.
The signs were uneven before the homer arrived. In his previous appearance before Wednesday’s home run, Tucker lined a ball 107 miles per hour off the bat. The kind of contact has not always turned into the kind of damage the Dodgers expected, but Tuesday’s go-ahead hit and Wednesday’s homer suggested the timing may be starting to turn.
Wednesday also belonged to Shohei Ohtani on the mound. He pitched six full innings of one-run ball and struck out a season-high 10 Mets hitters in the first time he took only the mound in a Dodgers uniform instead of doing both jobs. Dave Roberts said Ohtani would have DH’d if he had not been hit on the shoulder by David Peterson on Monday, and called the decision to keep him pitching-only a way to manage the shoulder and the back.
The Mets had their own late-game uncertainty. Edwin Díaz’s availability for Wednesday depended on how his pregame bullpen session went, and he was warming up in the bullpen during the eighth inning. Roberts said Díaz would have entered the ninth inning to face his former team if Dalton Rushing had not put the score out of reach.
The Dodgers have a clearer version of Tucker in mind than the one they have seen through the opening weeks. For now, the difference between a lineup piece and the impact bat they paid for is still being measured in extra-base hits, chase rate and the next good swing.
