Unless you have been living under a rock, Kyle Tucker has floundered spectacularly of late in his inaugural campaign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. We recently covered a fact that caught on in the baseball zeitgeist: Tucker has been in line with his career norms on the road, while being absolutely woeful at Dodger Stadium.
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As a primarily road fan, it’s been great for me. However, if you watch the Dodgers at home, be it in person or on television, you’ve been treated to “quality baseball” that makes Joey Gallo, Michael Conforto, Chris Taylor, and Joc Pederson look like Hall of Famers.
After both being benched by Dave Roberts and still going 0 for the homestand in games that would hopefully demonstrate the offense showing signs of life for the first time since leaving Philadelphia against the Kansas City Royals and games that might determine playoff seeding with the Milwaukee Brewers, Kyle Tucker dropped a can of corn that essentially sealed the Dodgers’ fate against the Brewers.
Whatever leash Tucker had at Dodger Stadium finally ran out as the fans rightfully booed the bizarre, defensive gaffe. Per Molly Knight:
Tucker dropping that ball also marked the first time he got booed by Dodger fans at home, but it wasn’t the same kind of lustful auditory shellacking he would have gotten if he were playing in New York, Philly, Boston, or even Chicago.
Tucker has been awful this year, but the Dodgers are still comfortably in first place in the NL West, so he’s gotten a pass from fans still drunk on two back-to-back World Championships. He’s also gotten by relatively unscathed because the rest of the team has carried him.
His ability to stink under the radar shifted violently over the weekend, however, when the entire Internet started pointing out just how *terrible* he’s been.
With respect to my friend Ms. Knight, I would argue that Tucker has been given a long leash by the fandom to settle into Los Angeles, which arguably raises a key question about agreed-upon expectations, discussed below.
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I was curious to see what Tucker would do in Colorado because, as we have established, Tucker has been basically fine on the road. The answer to that question was to apparently bring Dodger Stadium in his heart because the bad play continued.
On Monday night, when the Dodgers sprang to life for the first time since Philadelphia (a fact with a common denominator), the only Dodger to not join in was Tucker. I was in the field, so I didn’t know the camera caught Tucker being emotional in the dugout after his poor night.
But wait — there’s more. Once again, Tucker’s glove seemed to inexplicably abandon him during his offensive struggles. I happened to see this moment and was thoroughly confused and annoyed by it.
Have Glove Will Not Travel
As an aside, I started to wonder just how poorly Tucker was performing in the field. Baseball Savant is currently tracking the Fielding Run Value (FRV) for 97 qualified right fielders in 2026. An excellent summary of what FRV is is listed below:
Fielding Run Value (FRV) combines all of Statcast’s individual defensive metrics into one stat that measures a player’s overall defensive value.
FRV is measured on a run-base scale — it shows the runs a player saves from his defense, compared to an average player. A positive Fielding Run Value reflects above-average defensive performance, while a negative Fielding Run Value reflects below-average defensive performance.
Since Statcast uses different scales for different individual areas of defensive performance — range, throwing, framing, blocking, double plays, etc. — the conversion to one, run-based scale is necessary to place all performance on the same level. This allows defenders of all positions to be compared to one another.
As to right fielder FRV, Tucker is next to last with -7 FRV.
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Owen Caissie of the Miami Marlins is the only player who is a worse defensive liability. In contrast, Seiya Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs leads right fielders in FRV with 7 FRV. Oddly enough, Tucker’s poor defense is actually an improvement compared to the -9 FRV that Teoscar Hernandez put up in right field in 2025, besting only Juan Soto and Nick “Oh my God, something bad is happening starting on August 19, 2020” Castellanos.
Kyle Tucker is not Trea Turner
There are murmurs that fans are going to cheer and try to comfort Kyle Tucker this coming homestand, à la what the Phillies’ faithful did with Trea Turner in 2023. As is known, I don’t live in Los Angeles. I generally don’t go to Dodger Stadium and have sworn off the exercise for the foreseeable future. People are going to do what people do.
The entire exercise of what to do about Tucker as a fan was gnawing at me, and after thinking about it on the flight back to San Francisco, I concluded that the discourse demonstrates an imperfect understanding of two ultimately different situations.
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Personally, I have no great affection for Tucker, nor do I dislike the man. He is not one of my baseball nemeses (Jackson Holiday, Andrew McCutchen, Craig Kimbrel — they know what they did). Honestly, I probably could not pick Tucker out of a police lineup if he were out of uniform, regardless of the unreliability of police lineups.
Tucker played well over the past couple of years, but he did not have a Jon Hamm-narrated sizzle reel when the Dodgers signed him last winter.
Trea Turner had just signed with the Phillies to an 11-year, $300 million deal in 2023. The deal had no deferrals or opt-outs; moreover, it included a full no-trade clause. I’m all for puffery, but a lot of this video did not age well for Turner.
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This marriage between Turner and Philadelphia had to work because the alternative was to alienate someone signed to a franchise-cornerstone deal for the next decade. Turner floundered, and to recap when the Dodgers last debated trying this tactic with the now-retired Chris Taylor, let us return to what happened to Turner.
For a good portion of the year, Turner was reliving his rookie year in a bad way, hitting just .235/.290/.368 in his first 107 games.
These statistics are certainly not what you sign someone to an 11-year/$300 million contract for. Turner’s travails were so severe he was constantly being booed at home, including by his own mother (Happy Mother’s Day, everybody!). Philadelphia radio producer of 94.1 FM, Jack Fritz, had an idea before Turner’s first at-bat on the upcoming homestand on August 4: that the fans of Citizens Bank Park should try to bolster Turner’s feelings by giving him a standing ovation…
As ideas go, it was not a bad one, it made no sense to alienate the star player who is going to be here for the next decade within the first six months of the relationship. On August 4, the Phillies faithful obliged.
…Was it hokey? Maybe a little, but here’s the strange thing: it helped, per Turner! Correlation is not causation but Turner was a far different and better player after the standing ovation for the rest of the season than before it, hitting .337/.389/.668 in his final 48 games.
Trea Turner at the end of the 2023 season:
“I owe you guys a thank you. I’ve heard that you guys were responsible, so I want to say thank you for you guys,” he said. “… I started playing a lot better, and it was thanks to you guys and the crowd.”
Did Philly win a title in 2023? No, and blame Craig Kimbrel. Have things gone well for Turner ever since? In 2024 and 2025, yes. This year, God no, as that offensive outburst against the Dodgers was his first power surge in ages.
Here, Tucker was not signed to be the franchise cornerstone.
He was not signed to be the guy (Shohei Ohtani). Or the guy behind the guy (Mookie Betts). Or the guy behind the guy behind the guy who has great teeth and is quite bendy (Freddie Freeman). Or the guy behind the guy behind the guy who has great teeth and is quite bendy behind the homegrown guy (Will Smith). Or the guy behind the guy behind the guy who has great teeth and is quite bendy behind the homegrown guy behind the reclamation home run guy (Max Muncy). And so on and so on.
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The unspoken agreement was to just be better than Michael Conforto, and frankly, at home, that agreement has not been met.
Tucker has an opt-out after next year, which is all but guaranteed to be truncated in some form due to the owner’s machinations.
Yes, if Tucker were to leave after 2027, based on his current performance, he would likely need to emulate Conforto and sign a prove-it deal at a significant discount to his current salary. If Tucker is truly that miserable, it would be shocking to keep subjecting himself to the agita, regardless of how many zeroes are on his paycheck.
Maybe it’s just me, but life’s too short.
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Clear expectations
I get the idea of the reflex to embrace a player who has been struggling. But as Ms. Knight pointed out, it’s not as if the Dodger Stadium faithful have been haranguing Tucker so far in 2026, unlike Michael Conforto in 2025.
I just don’t think the idea is going to work. If anything, it’s likely to backfire.
We are not talking about a player whose skills have noticeably and likely permanently declined (hello, Mookie Betts — a topic for another day). We are not talking about a player who is an enigma but still manages to prevail in the end (hello, Teoscar Hernandez). We are not talking about a player who makes baffling decisions in the second spot in the order (hello, Andy Pages). We are not talking about a player who keeps swinging at low pitches or at the very first pitch (konnichiwa, Ohtani-san).
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On August 18, I saw something genuinely alarming from Tucker and something I cannot recall an active Major Leaguer doing: swinging at every pitch. The first six pitches Tucker saw that night, he swung at. My mother likely could not pick Tucker out of a lineup either. However, she did notice that he kept swinging, more like flailing, until he finally hit a double to break his hitless streak.
Tucker on the rocks
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While Tucker rebounded somewhat in the finale, the performance was not enough to stave off this essay.
Three inches of real estate
Accordingly, while some have debated whether Tucker is pressing to try and justify his massive contract, Tuesday night’s game was as much of a red flag as any.
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As of the start of play on August 21, the Dodgers have 35 regular-season games to go, including 18 regular-season home games.
The battle to salvage Tucker’s season as a whole is likely lost. However, Tucker can still make a point of making the most of these remaining games — not by trying to justify his contract in a single at-bat, but rather by stopping being an offensive liability. Apart from fluke circumstances, hello-Miguel-Rojas at Game 7 of the World Series, there is generally no such thing as a $60 million single swing.
The Dodgers don’t need Tucker to be an MVP candidate.
The Dodgers don’t need Tucker to be an All-Star candidate.
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The Dodgers don’t even need Tucker to be good in 2026.
The Dodgers need Tucker to stop prompting thoughts that his roster spot would be better filled by a prospect who has not played in the Majors before.
The Dodgers need Tucker to stop acting as if he is being psychologically tortured for not doing his job. I would openly ask what the Mental Skill Coach is doing if I thought it were helpful. If you had a co-worker like Tucker, and if you had any empathy, you would start asking the powers that be whether everything is alright at home or if something can be done, because the status quo is quickly becoming untenable.
There comes a point when you realize that the most important ground is the three or so inches between your ears, as the most important real estate there is. Giving unconditional praise to a talented person who is clearly underachieving often backfires, which can seem counterintuitive.
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“I’m trying harder…they are cheering for me loudly…Therefore, I must try even harder!…Oh no! /cycle repeats”
Sometimes, space and acknowledging what has passed is the best medicine. On this point, I do speak from some experience, but at the risk of diluting this essay’s focus, might I suggest an alternative approach?
The only way out is through
Am I suggesting fans give up on Tucker? Not at all. We have not yet reached the sunk cost fallacy. The sunk cost fallacy is our tendency to continue with something we’ve already invested heavily in (be it time, money, effort, or emotional energy), even when giving up is clearly the better option.
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Do I expect fans to cheer loudly on Friday when Tucker comes up? Probably. Will it work? I hope it doesn’t backfire, but given how many fans showed up in West Sacramento with an argument to not do so and how few letters went out last month, I am not hopeful that anyone will listen.
Maybe I am wrong, and all he needs is a hug, but honestly, players highly rank the Dodgers organization for how they treat their players for a reason. Someone has likely already tried a version of this tactic. If the players did not believe in Tucker, they would just leave him be. But Miguel Rojas and Mookie Betts have publicly spoken in support of what Tucker is going through.
What would I do regarding Tucker? Simply treat him like an opposing player, at least in the short term.
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As I stated above, I am not anti-Tucker. If anything, I was more aggrieved against Conforto last year. But to his credit, Conforto did not throw public tantrums or react poorly, even though fans were heckling him at home and away during a disappointing year. Think treating him like Francisco Lindor (because who has a problem with Lindor) or Trea Turner, not a lightning rod like Pete Crow-Armstrong or Manny Machado.
The situation with Tucker feels more like having a bad cramp. Counterintuitively, the best way to deal with the pain is to push through it and put more weight on your limb until the pain subsides.
Tucker has generally had no issue playing well on the road this year. Getting his brain to relax a little at Dodger Stadium, even in the short term, to trick himself into a reset might be the way to go. And then embrace him once it looks like he stops being afraid of his own shadow.
I am not a psychologist, but I do acknowledge that sometimes, when faced with a difficult problem I can’t crack, the best solution is not to focus harder. The solution is often to mentally reset, trust in the skills that have brought me to this point, and usually have a snack. As a better writer than I once wrote: “Life is hard, and we deserve our small celebrations.”
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