Originally published by DodgerBlue.com
A lot has been made about Kyle Tucker’s struggles at Dodger Stadium this season after he finished 0-for-19 during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ most recent homestand.
Tucker then had another game to forget in the series opener against the Colorado Rockies as he went 0-for-5 at the plate and dropped a routine fly ball in right field. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts nevertheless continued to stick by the beleaguered outfielder in hopes of helping him get back on track.
“I’m managing him by having conversations, supporting him. I think when you go through struggles like this, the worst thing is when a player feels like they’re on an island. So for me, we’re going to go through this together,” Roberts said on SportsNet LA.
“I think for me, it’s just trying to get him to restore the confidence. Clearly, it’s a little bit shaken and sometimes you’ve got to fake it until you make it, and be proactive with that mindset. And not just wait for results to kind of validate it.
“For me, it’s just kind of supporting him, encouraging him to go out there and compete, be positive, and expect good things to happen.”
Roberts added he is not “at the point” of benching Tucker for a small stretch of games in effort to jumpstart him. Another recent example of attempting to bring levity to the situation was Roberts speaking with Tucker at Chase Field about matters outside of baseball.
“When you start to struggle and internalize, you start to go dark. You find yourself going dark, and that’s a lonely place,” Roberts explained. “So I think that for me, trying to proactively pull conversations out of him, talk about life, talk about baseball, it just kind of opens things up and it’s freeing.
“He’s a cerebral guy by nature, internalizes a lot. But still, for me, he’s with a new ballclub, he’s scuffling, so I want to get that out of him.”
Kyle Tucker responds
Tucker was out of the Dodgers lineup for two games last week as frustration mounted over his struggles at home, but he remained in the lineup throughout the Rockies series and bounced back some in the 7-6 win on Tuesday by going 1-for-4 with an RBI double to snap an 0-for-26 drought.
Tucker followed that up with two more hits in the series finale at Coors Field.
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