Just as Kyle Tucker was finally starting to heat up, he became the latest Dodgers star to suffer a potential injury concern.
On Sunday, Tucker was not in the Dodgers’ lineup for their series-finale against the San Francisco Giants, absent a day after he left Saturday’s game early following a foul ball off his right knee/shin area.
The good news: Tucker insisted on Sunday that he felt fine and didn’t anticipate it causing ongoing problems.
Still, manager Dave Roberts had said Saturday night he expected Tucker in the lineup on Sunday, depending on how the issue progressed.
Tucker initially suffered the injury in the third inning Saturday night, when a foul ball banged high enough up his leg it evaded his shin pad.
The four-time All-Star immediately went down in pain, and was checked out by Roberts and a trainer for several moments.
Initially, Tucker stayed in the game, drawing a walk (and racing around the bases to later score a run) in the fifth while playing out in right field until the seventh.
However, he appeared to be moving around somewhat gingerly after the injury, and was ultimately removed once the score got out of reach in the Dodgers’ eventual 10-4 win.
Postgame, Tucker didn’t seem overly concerned with the issue, saying he should be “good with it” and that the lopsided score was a factor in his precautionary removal.
“I feel like everyone is grinding at this point of the season,” he noted.
On Sunday morning, he echoed that sentiment, saying Roberts had informed him Sunday they were “just gonna at least give me the day.”
The Dodgers will have to hope the injury doesn’t impact Tucker’s recently resurgent performance. In his last 10 games, the $240 million outfielder has finally started to turn a corner, going 15-for-35 with five home runs, nine extra-base hits and 11 RBIs in that stretch.
In 2024, a similar foul ball left Tucker with a right shin fracture that sidelined him for three months.
However, he said this one hit in a different spot of his leg, while once again downplaying the potential severity of the problem.
“This was a little different,” he said. “I feel fine.”
