In 2020, his first full season in the KBO, Tucker anchored the KIA lineup with a .306 batting average, 32 home runs, and 113 RBIs in 142 games. It’s not often that a foreign player explodes onto the scene in the KBO, but Tucker did it with consistency. Naturally, he was re-signed for the 먹튀검증 2021 season.
But in a year, he became a completely different player, disappointing fans and the organization. Tucker struggled from the start of the 2021 season, batting just .237 in 127 games. He had just nine home runs and 59 RBIs. In one year, his home runs, RBIs, and batting average all plummeted. It was one of the biggest drops in the KBO in 2021. The context of natural has changed in a very different sense than a year ago.
Tucker had been pushing for a return to the major leagues, but it hadn’t worked out. Last year, he signed a minor league deal with Atlanta. There weren’t many teams calling him up, so he didn’t settle on Atlanta’s Triple-A team until April, after the season had started. He batted just .267 with a .773 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) in 75 games and ultimately failed to earn a promotion to the majors.
This year, however, he is on track to return to the majors for the first time since 2018. Signed to a minor league deal with San Diego, Tucker has been one of the best hitters for the Triple-A team this year. Through 23 games, he’s batting .310 with six home runs, 19 RBIs, and a 1.052 OPS in 31 games.
El Paso, San Diego’s Triple-A affiliate, is a member of the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The PCL is traditionally a ride-or-die league. As such, Tucker’s OPS is somewhat overrated. However, it’s hard to overlook an OPS of over 1.000 in any league, whether it’s tag-team or otherwise. If there is a hole in the San Diego outfield, Tucker would be a strong candidate for a call-up.
San Diego’s outfield has established starters in Fernando Tatis Jr. and Juan Soto, and a Gold Glove-caliber defender in Trent Grisham in center. It’s a tough lineup to crack. But it’s not too early to get your hopes up. Especially since San Diego is in a batting slump.
While it’s clear that Fernando Tatis Jr. is back and Juan Soto’s power is on the rise, the rest of the lineup isn’t quite up to par. Tucker, who has major league experience and has been hitting well of late, could be a trump card for San Diego in the minors.
A seventh-round pick (219th overall) of Houston in 2012, Tucker made his major league debut with the Astros in 2015. In 2015, he put up some decent numbers, hitting .243 with 13 home runs, 33 RBIs, and an OPS of .734 in 98 games. But in 2016, his hitting dropped off and he bounced between the majors and minors, and in 2018, he played 97 games between Cincinnati and Atlanta, but his hitting never recovered.
If he is called up to the majors at some point this year, it will be his first major league appearance since 2018. It would also reunite him with Ha-Sung Kim, who he played against in the KBO. Tucker”s brother is Kyle Tucker, one of Houston”s top hitters and a player who is expected to sign a big contract in the future. There’s also the possibility of seeing him on the field.