After slow start, Tucker in swing
HOUSTON — Angels reliever Jose Quijada was barely open for business. He had thrown eight pitches to two batters when Kyle Tucker arrived in the batter's box.
Tucker deposited a firstpitch fastball into the bullpen. The Astros cashed in.
Tucker's fifth-inning, two-run homer broke a tie and lifted the Astros to a 3-1 win over the Angels in Sunday's series finale, continuing the right fielder's redhot streak. As Houston looks to rebound from a subpar 14-13 record in August and clinch a division title, Tucker is leading the charge.
On Aug. 24, the day Tucker was reactivated after he spent two weeks on the injured list dealing with a positive COVID-19 test, he declared that he was ready to contribute again. He's lived up to that ambition, batting 25-for-59 (.424) in 17 games since with 11 extrabase hits, three home runs and 11 RBIS.
Tucker leads the Astros in OPS (.902), slugging percentage (.549) and triples (3) and is tied with Carlos Correa for most doubles (31). He is slashing .293/ .353/.549 on the season with 25 home runs and 82 RBIS — a far cry from his stats in April and early May.
Through the first month of the season, Tucker slashed .175/.242/.342 with 16 RBIS, 25 strikeouts and a .584 OPS. His batting average on balls in play was a measly .164 in April and by the All-star break had improved to .279 in 325 plate appearances. In 162 plate appearances during the second half of the season, it is .351.
“That's a tremendous comeback from where he started early in the year,” manager Dusty Baker said. “He was our tough luck guy. He wasn't hitting, but he was hitting – he was just hitting it at somebody. And now he's finding some holes.”
“I feel like my first month every year isn't very good and then I start going off after that, so I got to figure that out,” Tucker said. “But yeah, I've just been seeing the ball really well, just trying to hit it on the barrel, not chase pitches and just do my job, try to get on base or score some runs. So that's all I try to do.”
Tucker said he also altered his swing throughout the season, opening up to a wider batting stance and using a bigger leg kick.
“My swing's changed a lot,” he said. “If you look at my swing at the beginning of the season, the middle and then now, it's pretty different.”
Baker said he's observed Tucker practicing greater discipline at the plate, too.
“He's not swinging or chasing many bad pitches out of the zone,” Baker said. “He's centering balls and not fouling them off or popping them up or hitting them in the ground. I mean, you feel good about yourself. You know that your vision's on. You know that your timing's on.”
Tucker's confidence can only be a good thing for the Astros, whose typically elite offense has suffered myriad dry spells as of late. His home run Sunday helped Houston increase its division lead to 6½ games. It can clinch the American League West with 14 wins, and maybe a few more big swings from Tucker.