Oufielder Kyle Tucker is gone to minor league camp but not forgotten by Astros.
Hinch, Luhnow agree .410-hitting phenom has a bright future
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Alex Bregman called him a stud. Manager A.J. Hinch smiled at the first mention of his name, a reporter wondering what impression 21-year-old Kyle Tucker left on Astros camp.
“A pretty good one,” the skipper said. “He’s a good player and has a bright future.”
Still, Sunday morning presented the inevitable.
Tucker was among five Astros players sent to minor league camp prior to the team’s 6-3 Grapefruit League loss to the Braves, a predictable — and planned — move despite Tucker’s stout 17-game spring showing.
“The biggest thing for him is we have a really, really good team. It’s a hard team to make,” general manager Jeff Luhnow said. “He had a terrific spring, but our plan from the very beginning was that he was going to go back down to the minors and wait for his opportunity, whether he forces it or whether it develops.”
Splendid spring
Tucker exits big league camp with a 1.223 OPS in 42 plate appearances and a major leaguehigh 17 RBIs. The 21-year-old outfielder slugged .735, hit .410 and clubbed a team-leading four home runs in 39 at-bats, garnering an indelible nickname and a swing comparison to one of the game’s greats.
Dubbed “Ted” by veteran teammates joshing with their rookie mate whose smooth swing some likened to that of Ted Williams, Tucker saw the placard above his locker quickly replaced by a homemade one with the nickname scrawled atop it.
It disappeared Sunday morning.
The impact Tucker left upon those who remained did not.
“Everybody’s swing has their own little twitch, has their own little thing to it, but he gets it in the same spots as some of the best hitters in the game,” said Bregman, whom the Astros selected second overall in the 2015 draft, three picks ahead of Tucker. “He sets up the right positions, and when he squares up the ball, he gets it in the air to the pull side. He can drive the ball the other way out of the yard. He’s really impressive.”
Sunday’s reassignments thinned the Astros’ clubhouse to, as Hinch said, “really all the guys who are in the competition.” Who mans first base during Yuli Gurriel’s expected earlyseason absence is unknown.
Will see time in left, right
So, too, is left field — where Tucker could eventually factor.
Tucker played primarily right field during his Grapefruit League tenure. Thirty-four of his 39 at-bats came there. Hinch anticipates more position versatility when Tucker begins his minor league season.
“You’re going to see him play a little more in left field and right field and not primarily stay in right field like he’s done,” Hinch said. “The pace of play here is a little bit higher or faster, and I think that’s something that opened his eyes. And it’s small details, whether it’s getting the ball to the cut-off man a little faster when the ball hits off the wall to how we shift and how we play in the outfield.”
Luhnow was unsure whether Tucker will begin the season with Class AAA Fresno or Class AA Corpus Christi, where he finished last season.
“We want him to continue to work on some swing adjustments so he can just get more reps and face better and better pitching,” Luhnow said. “There’s a lot of good pitching in Triple-A and Double-A that’s better than what he’s faced in his career thus far. Obviously, he showed this spring he can handle some good pitching. That’s good, but there’s still a little bit of finishing touches for him.”
Those touches are minor. Improving against lefthanded pitching, against which he was 3-for-11 in Grapefruit League games, is one. Adjusting to that aforementioned accelerated pace of play, too.
As a reward for his spring exploits, Tucker will accompany the Astros for their final two exhibition games against Milwaukee on April 26-27 inside Minute Maid Park — where he might play again this season.
“He’s going to be a part of this team,” Luhnow said, “and he’s going to be a big part of our future.”