Tucker sits A’s series opener to rest, reset
OAKLAND, Calif. — At-bats that are a “work in progress,” coupled with a nonexistent All-Star break, led Dusty Baker to sit right fielder Kyle Tucker for Monday’s series opener against the Oakland A’s.
Baker intended to give Tucker off Sunday against the Mariners but inserted him into the lineup after Yordan Alvarez could not play due to hand soreness. Tucker finished 1for-5 and struck out three times, prolonging a poor offensive month.
Tucker is slashing .234/.277/ .377 during 88 July plate appearances. Sunday’s showing lowered his OPS below .800 for the first time since June 4.
“(My at-bats) are a work in progress,” Tucker said before the game. “I don’t think they’ve been that great. … I haven’t used the whole field like I should.”
Tucker bemoaned his pullhappy approach this month and an inability to correct some flaws he can feel in how his body is spinning in his swing. Tucker said he “really likes” his swing decisions but acknowledged he is “a little lost” with the direction of where he’s hitting the ball.
Among Astros, only third baseman Alex Bregman has played more games than Tucker, who entered Monday as one of only 26 major leaguers to log at least 750 defensive innings this season.
Bregman received a threeday respite last week during the All Star break. Tucker made his first appearance at the Midsummer Classic, which Baker acknowledged might have left him fatigued following three separate cross-country flights — to and from the All-Star Game in Los Angeles and then to Seattle on Friday morning to start a three-game series.
“I just noticed that guys that go to the All-Star Game and have to travel, most of the time they come back slumping or a little down because they didn’t get a mental or a physical rest,”
Baker said.
Top 2 draft picks sign deals below slot value
The Astros on Monday signed their first two selections in the MLB draft and have now inked all of their first 10 picks to professional contracts.
First-rounder Drew Gilbert and second-rounder Jacob Melton both signed with the Astros and will report to the team’s spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Houston selected Gilbert with the 28th overall pick in last week’s draft. Melton went 64th overall. Gilbert signed for $2.5 million, according to MLB.com, slightly under the $2.62 million slot value of his selection. Melton signed for $1 million at a pick that carried a $1.1 million slot value.
The Astros on Monday also signed ninth-round pick Brett
Gillis — a righthander from the University of Portland — to finish their work within the first 10 rounds.
Houston has now signed each of its first 10 picks and will turn its attention to 11th-rounder Ryan Clifford, a touted high school outfielder with a college commitment to Vanderbilt.
The Astros are expected to make an aggressive push to sign Clifford with money they saved from inking under-slot deals in the first 10 rounds. For
picks in the 11th round or later, any bonus higher than $125,000 counts toward a team’s bonus pool. Houston had a $6,837,000 pool with which to work.
Odds and ends
Left fielder Michael Brantley still has not swung a bat during his recovery from a right shoulder ailment, Baker said. Brantley is expected to try to swing this week, but there is no timetable for his return. Brantley has missed 25 games while on the injured list. … Righthander Lance McCullers Jr. is “on track” to make his second minor league rehab appearance either Tuesday or Wednesday at Oklahoma City with Class AAA Sugar Land, general manager James Click told the Astros’ radio network Sunday. McCullers made his first rehab start Friday with Class AA Corpus Christi, tossing 40 pitches across two innings. … The team still has not provided an update on backup catcher Jason Castro, who Baker said last week is “not doing well” in his recovery from a left knee injury.