Tucker launches You Can! Foundation
CINCINNATI -- Mental health was a heightened global issue in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced many people into relative isolation to stay safe and slow the spread of spread the virus.
That year, shortstop Cole Tucker sat down with two of his friends, Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger and Brewers farmhand Jamie Westbrook, as all three were feeling the effects of that uncertain period, and they came to a realization.
“[We] were just talking and thinking, ‘Hey, we have this platform, and we have these ideas of what would be cool to help in our backyard and all over the country with things that we care about,’” Tucker told MLB.com.
What the three have been working on for a year now has a name: the You Can! Foundation. The program aims to raise money and awareness for mental health and well-being among underprivileged youth.
At the moment, the foundation is taking baby steps into the world, but this is no small idea for Tucker and his friends, who recruited people with experience in building foundations to help plan programming, marketing and the organization’s rollout.
Tucker said that mental well-being is a cause all three founders are passionate about. The grind of a baseball season is just one part of the picture for their mental health, but it has been a large part, especially for Westbrook, who Tucker said had a bout of the yips earlier in his career.
“I think everyone struggles with some kind of mental health stuff,” Tucker said. “I don’t have any diagnosed issues or anything, but a lot of people that I care about have, and it’s something personal. But I also think it’s something that pertains to everybody, no matter who you are or what you do.”
Davis joins Pirates
When Taylor Davis was called up to the big leagues for the first time, in 2017, he made the trip to Pittsburgh with the Cubs. PNC Park was the first ballpark he saw as a Major Leaguer.
Now he is back in the Majors, this time with the team that plays in that park.
Davis had his contract selected on Monday, as everyday catcher Jacob Stallings was placed on the 7-day concussion IL after being banged up in Miami.
“We started talking about it [on Monday], the fact that he was having some dizziness and having some headaches moving his head side to side,” manager Derek Shelton said of Stallings’ placement on the IL. “That was the decision. We’ve got to be safe with something like that.”
Davis, acquired by the Pirates from the Orioles in a Minor League trade, has spent time with two teams this season, which is a strong change of pace after he spent 2011-19 in the Cubs’ system.
“Being traded is always a good thing in my mind,” Davis said. “Obviously, someone wants you enough to trade for you, so super blessed, and the people over here have been awesome.”
The 31-year-old catcher has only had 36 MLB at-bats, but he played six seasons at Triple-A. At Indianapolis this season, he hit .241 with three doubles and two home runs in 38 games, and on the season across Norfolk and Indy, he’s caught 12 attempted basestealers in 35 chances.
Davis was not with the team in Spring Training, so there’s a little bit of icebreaking to do. However, he feels like he has a good rapport with the pitching group, as many of the Major League contributors have either spent time at Triple-A this season or have crossed paths with Davis on rehab assignments.
“[I’m going to] try to make something happen every day that I’m in there,” Davis said. “But for the most part, try to be who I am, try to be the best teammate I can be and just kind of help out any way that I can.”