Tucker out to prove 2021 breakout was just the start

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- If you ask Astros manager Dusty Baker about Kyle Tucker's performance last year, he’s almost certainly going to bring up how unlucky the right fielder was early in the season. And there’s data to back up Baker’s answer.

Tucker shook off a poor first month -- a stretch in which he was crushing the ball but hitting into outs -- and wound up leading the American League in batting average (.320), slugging percentage (.600), OBP (.387) and OPS (.986) after May 1. Basically, he was perhaps the best offensive player in the AL for the final five months.

The slow start, however, meant that Tucker’s overall numbers went unnoticed until later in the season. When the dust settled, he hit .294 with 30 homers, 92 RBIs, 37 doubles, three triples, 83 runs and a .917 OPS in 140 games. Tucker also had eight extra-base hits and 15 RBIs in 16 postseason games. He finished third in the AL in slugging (.557) and OPS (.917) and received some down ballot AL Most Valuable Player votes.

Even in a stacked lineup that includes 2019 AL MVP runner-up Alex Bregman, 2019 AL Rookie of the Year Yordan Alvarez and 2021 AL batting champion Yuli Gurriel, Tucker takes a backseat to no one and is hoping to pick up some hardware himself this year.

“Obviously, there’s always things to improve on,” he said. “I’d like to not to get out to a slow start. I’ll just go out there and try to play my best. I learned a lot of things last year, [and] if I continue to do that and build off of that, it will be a pretty good year.”

As for that slow start: Tucker, with a left-handed swing that mirrors Ted Williams, was scalding the ball in April and his expected batting average and expected slugging percentage were solid. Once he got hot, he outperformed those expected numbers for the rest of the season:

First 33 games: .175/.242/.342, one homer every 22.8 at-bats

45.7 percent hard-hit rate, .268 xBA, .497 xSLG

Last 107 games: .329/.394/.620, one homer every 15.8 at-bats

48 percent hard-hit rate, .318 XBA, .604 xSLG

So what changed?

“I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’ll try different things and try to lock in a little bit better this year,” he said. “I’d love to be hitting .500 out the gate, but we’ll see how it goes.”

When pressed, Tucker said he became “super hyper focused” on hitting the ball over the batter’s eye, instead of trying to pull the ball or go to left field.

“I was literally trying to stay over the batter’s eye and my misses would be left-center, right-center,” he said. “That means you’re getting the ball out in front and staying through the ball a lot better. If you’re super hyper focused on that and your swing, if you’re missing, you’re missing to left field and foul territory and stuff and you stay through the ball a lot better.”

Tucker’s 2021 season was also interrupted by a pair of stints on the injured list with an illness in June and a positive COVID-19 test in August. Those did little to slow down his momentum, though. Astros hitting coach Troy Snitker hopes Tucker can position himself to carry that momentum into regular season and put together a solid wire-to-wire season.

“I think it’s just about continuing the path he’s been on,” Snitker said. “He’s been growing gradually year to year, and it’s continuing to refine his overall approach in the game, kind of learning all the pitchers, learning his swing and learning how to make adjustments faster. I would say those are the biggest things he can improve on this year. Just the overall maturation for his game.”

It’s easy to forget Tucker is still in the early stages of his career. The No. 5 overall pick in the 2015 Draft, he had played in only 108 career games over three seasons before playing in 140 games last year. He certainly doesn’t consider himself established just yet.

“I don’t consider myself really cemented, which I think is a good thing,” he said. “It helps me want to try to improve and get better every day. I care about what I do in here and what I have to do to help the team out.”