Dodgers’ Dave Roberts sends powerful message to Kyle Tucker after recent struggles

To say the last few months haven’t gone as planned for prized Los Angeles Dodgers free agent addition Kyle Tucker would be an understatement.

The highest-paid player in MLB history in terms of true AAV, Tucker certainly hasn’t looked like it, with his 0.1 WAR the worst mark of his career since his rookie season and his defensive struggles becoming an increasing issue as his bat remains cold.

Discussing Tucker’s issues in an appearance on MLB Network Radio, manager Dave Roberts used the public forum to send a vote of confidence to his right fielder, reminding him he’s not alone in his struggles.

“I think that it’s one of those things I think for me is my message to him is you’re not alone. But when you can you catch a ball at your shoe tops and drop it, that’s where you’re kind of that’s a tell where you’re not in a good spot mentally. You know, people miss fly balls all the time. It happens. Shouldn’t happen, but it does,” Roberts said.

“But when you’re catching it that low, it’s just kind of you’re really unsure, right. The at-bats of kind of the indecisiveness, and I think for me is just wanting him to just kind of go out there and expect good things to happen. Go play free and easy.

“You’re not gonna, you know, have a 900 this year, but you know each day just go out there and help us win the game. And I think yesterday I was really excited his teammates were excited where guy on second base all he’s trying to do is get the guy over, and then he gets rewarded with the double. And you know, I think that when you start just playing just to win and take the individual performance out of it hopefully that kind of alleviates some kind of angst and some frustrations. But yeah, I mean he’s probably never struggled like this in his life.”

After struggling to find a third consistent outfielder for years, with players like Jason Heyward and Kevin Kiermaier giving way for Michael Conforto in 2025 and now Tucker in 2026, handing the former Chicago Cubs right fielder a massive overpay was supposed to answer that issue for good. Instead, Tucker has the lowest WAR of any of LA’s consistent starters, while his backup, Alex Call, has produced at a much better clip in more limited action. Fortunately, Roberts and the Dodgers appear to have Tucker’s back, which is all that really matters for the struggling 29-year-old.

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