{"id":191300,"date":"2026-02-24T10:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T10:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/191300\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T10:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T10:58:14","slug":"why-kyle-tucker-is-content-to-fit-in-among-dodgers-galaxy-of-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/191300\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Kyle Tucker is content to fit in among Dodgers’ galaxy of stars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PHOENIX\u00a0\u2014\u00a0There are expectations surrounding new Dodgers<\/a> right fielder Kyle Tucker<\/a> \u2014 not surprising for someone with a four-year, $240-million contract.<\/p>\n

But first things first.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year I got one hit in spring, so hopefully I get more than that,\u201d Tucker said, sharing a laugh with reporters after grounding out and walking in two plate appearances in his Cactus League debut Sunday. \u201cSo, that\u2019s the goal. But I mean, just feeling comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a clubhouse full of superstar players, the feeling seems mutual with his teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad he\u2019s with us,\u201d Dodgers catcher Will Smith<\/a> said, adding: \u201cThere might be other superstars on this team, but it\u2019s not really anyone\u2019s focus here. It\u2019s all about getting in every day, working hard, helping us win a ballgame that day and working toward the ultimate goal of winning the World Series.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year was a tale of two seasons for the 29-year-old Tucker.<\/p>\n

Through the first three months, Tucker had the Chicago Cubs\u2019 offense humming, powering the club to a 53-35 start. Entering July, Tucker was batting .291 with a .395 on-base percentage, .931 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 17 home runs, 52 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. Tucker found himself in the middle of the National League most valuable player discussion as the Cubs sat in first place in the National League Central.<\/p>\n

But from July 1 through the end of the season, he batted just .225, posting a .690 OPS, five home runs and 21 RBIs, a far cry from his first half that earned him a start in right field in the All-Star Game.<\/p>\n

It was later revealed that Tucker sustained a hairline fracture in June, which he played through. In September, he suffered a calf strain, landing him on the injured list.<\/p>\n

He finished the season with a .266 batting average and 22 homers, career lows. That did not deter the Dodgers, and it was an easy sell for Tucker as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery organization is unique in its own sense,\u201d Tucker said. \u201cBut this organization obviously the last couple of years has done pretty well, so I think that\u2019s a huge part of the front office and them doing their part and trying to get a great group together. Just great people and great athletes, and then trying to just put the best product out on the field for the city of Los Angeles and the fans. I think they\u2019ve done a pretty good job of that so far. Hopefully, we can keep winning for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite what happened last season with Tucker, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts<\/a> is confident in the newly signed star.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me and the people that I talked to and how he goes about it, there\u2019s nothing negative for me,\u201d Roberts said last week. \u201cI love guys that just come to work and love playing and competing. So, he just wants to win. He\u2019s not a self-promoter; he\u2019s not going to give [the media] a bunch of great soundbites. He wants to play to win, and I love guys like that. So, I\u2019m excited to have him and get to know him even more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tucker missed a little less than three weeks in last season\u2019s final month. He did not return to the outfield, manning the designated-hitter spot for the Cubs, whose season ended at the hands of the Brewers in five games in the NL Division Series.<\/p>\n

Tucker says he felt good all offseason and is feeling even better in the early days of camp with his new team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a pretty healthy\u201d offseason, Tucker said. \u201cAt the beginning, I might have still been kind of nursing the calf a little bit. But it was kind of feeling pretty good right at the end. I think if we had moved on to the next series, I probably would have gone to the outfield, so I wish I could have gotten out there for that. Overall, in the offseason, I felt pretty healthy, and [feel pretty healthy] going into camp so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Vesia returns to the mound<\/p>\n

Dodgers left-hander Alex Vesia<\/a> made his Cactus League debut in Monday\u2019s 3-0 win over the Seattle Mariners \u2014 the first time he\u2019s pitched in a game of any kind since his newborn daughter died last fall.<\/p>\n

Entering in the fifth inning to a loud ovation, Vesia struck out one and retired the side in order. He then received a warm greeting from teammates in the dugout.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing around the guys, it\u2019s really been comforting,\u201d Vesia said. \u201cThese guys are my brothers, I truly love all of them. It\u2019s meant a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dodgers set starting pitchers for the week<\/p>\n

Before Monday\u2019s game, Roberts revealed starting pitchers for this week. Gavin Stone will take the mound Tuesday, Roki Sasaki will start Wednesday and Tyler Glasnow makes his first start of the Cactus League on Thursday. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start for the second time Friday in what likely will be his last before joining Team Japan for the World Baseball Classic.<\/p>\n

Over the last two offseasons, the Dodgers spent a combined $141 million on relief pitchers Edwin D\u00edaz and Tanner Scott, both of whom are expected to make their first spring appearances this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cTanner and Edwin are going either Wednesday or Thursday in the Cactus League games,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThose guys, we\u2019ll start to see them this week.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX\u00a0\u2014\u00a0There are expectations surrounding new Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker \u2014 not surprising for someone with a four-year,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[18436,89722,2845,426,6135,9251,48,52,51,5562,7036,47,50,49,1024,424,278,2850,428,26336,316],"class_list":{"0":"post-191300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-all-star-game","9":"tag-cactus-league-debut","10":"tag-chicago-cubs","11":"tag-dodgers","12":"tag-guy","13":"tag-home-run","14":"tag-la","15":"tag-la-headlines","16":"tag-la-news","17":"tag-last-week","18":"tag-last-year","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","21":"tag-los-angeles-news","22":"tag-monday","23":"tag-roberts","24":"tag-season","25":"tag-star","26":"tag-start","27":"tag-tucker","28":"tag-wednesday"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}