Why Dodgers will hit Kyle Tucker ahead of Freddie Freeman

PHOENIX –– There isn’t much intrigue when it comes to who will be in the Dodgers lineup when the season starts next month.

But this spring, manager Dave Roberts does have a key decision to make about how he will order his superstar hitters.

This week, Roberts began tipping his hand, fielding a strong lineup Tuesday that included a notable wrinkle: Star offseason signing Kyle Tucker was in the two-hole, and star first baseman Freddie Freeman was in the clean-up spot.

Things could change between now and opening day, Roberts said, but “as we stand here today, I like that going forward.”

How Tucker and Freeman would be deployed in the batting order has been a question ever since Tucker signed his $240 million deal to join the Dodgers this winter. Last year, the top of the Dodgers’ lineup rarely changed: Shohei Ohtani led off, Mookie Betts batted behind him, and Freeman typically hit third (although, sometimes was fourth with Will Smith batting third, when a left-handed pitcher was on the mound).

Tucker’s arrival has changed that calculus.

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The Dodgers will still use Ohtani as the leadoff hitter this year. But Tucker’s ability to get on base and hit both left- and right-handed pitching has given the team a new weapon. Usually, the Dodgers have tried to stagger the left- and right-handed hitters in their lineup, to prevent teams from gaining a matchup advantage when they deploy relievers. But with Tucker, the danger of having two lefties –– himself and Ohtani –– topping the order is dissipated.

Thus, expect to see a top five of Ohtani-Tucker-Betts-Freeman-Smith as the Dodgers pursue a third-straight World Series title.

“I just feel with Kyle in the 2, lefty-righty matchups don’t bother him,” Roberts said. “He’s an on-base machine, and that starts to bleed into guys in the 3-4-5 that I feel really good about being run producers and hitting with guys on base. So yeah, I sort of like that now.” 

The moves are reflective of how the Dodgers are evaluating their biggest stars entering 2026.

Ohtani can thrive in any role, but has looked particularly comfortable since moving into the leadoff spot midway through 2024. That year, his OPS was almost 100 points higher while batting first. And last season, he was the most prolific leadoff hitter in the sport, leading the majors in home runs (51, including 12 to lead off a game) from that spot while posting the third-highest batting average (.284) among hitters with at least 300 plate appearances.

Batting Tucker second is a sign of the high expectations the team has for its newest big-name arrival. 

The two-hole has become the place teams usually put their most productive bat. And while Tucker has never reached the MVP-winning heights Freeman and Betts have in their careers, the Dodgers’ hope is that he could be primed for his best personal season, thanks to the protection he’ll have in front and behind him.

For Betts and Freeman, moving down in the order lessens the burden they will carry as they try to bounce back to their typical standards offensively in 2026. Yet, it still creates the opportunity for important run production, since they should get plenty of at-bats with runners on base.

Smith, meanwhile, might now become the best No. 5 hitter in the league, as he looks to build off his career-best .296 batting average last year and extra-inning heroics in Game 7 of the World Series.

And even after them, the Dodgers have more depth, with the bottom half of their order featuring Teoscar Hernández, Max Muncy, Andy Pages and Tommy Edman (once he finishes his recovery from an ankle surgery that will sideline him for opening day).