LOS ANGELES -- One week after the boos rained down on Kyle Tucker during a road game, the prized free-agent addition in the offseason has been given multiple days off this week at home to gather his thoughts.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had Tucker out of the starting lineup Saturday against hard-throwing Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski.
Had the game been played at Milwaukee, there was a high probability Tucker would have been in right field to start the game. Playing at Dodger Stadium, though, Roberts felt the change was necessary.
On the road this season, Tucker is batting .275 with nine home runs and 37 RBIs in 57 games, which fall right around his career norms. In 59 games at Los Angeles, though, he is batting .192 with two home runs and 17 RBIs.
"I don't think he even realized it until recently when I think people brought it to light,” Roberts said about Tucker’s home/road splits. “But the fact is, the splits are stark. I don't think we have a reason behind it. But I wouldn't say [he is] fixated on it, but certainly, now he's conscious of it."
When the Dodgers visited Chicago on their most recent road trip, Tucker was welcomed back by Cubs fans with boos reserved for the most hated of rivals. His 2025 season with the Cubs was an up-and-down ride with 22 home runs, an All-Star Game appearance and second-half struggles he found hard to shake.
He still signed a massive four-year, $240 million free-agent deal with the Dodgers, although the rocky ride has continued.
Tucker was out of the starting lineup Monday against the Kansas City Royals when the Dodgers returned for a seven-game homestand and was given another break Saturday.
“I think more for Kyle, just being at home right now, I see kind of the frustration,” Roberts said. “I felt that it was best for him to use today as a work day, and then he'll be back in there tomorrow and he'll play all three in Denver [next week]. Gives me a chance to get Alex [Call] in there.”
Tucker not only went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts against the Brewers on Friday, he entered Saturday’s game 2-for-16 on the homestand.
“It's the first at-bat of a game and you're really showing emotion, that's a tell from a guy who doesn't show a lot of emotion,” Roberts said of Friday’s game. “So those things, as they build up, that tells me that you need a little [rest]. You need to watch a baseball game and kind of take some of that frustration and put it to the side.”