The Dodgers invested $240 million in Kyle Tucker, hoping to replicate his success with the Astros. However, Tucker has yet to fire up the expected numbers. He is currently hitting .236 with 4 homers, even lower than the Dodgers’ $790,000 slugger Dalton Rushing, who’s hitting .253 with 7 homers. Fans are frustrated, and so is Dave Roberts.

While Roberts gets honest about Tucker, he hints at how the team is perceiving his slump.

“The performance was much better; the month of May was really good. For me, it still didn’t look right. It speaks to his toughness,” Dodgers Nation quoted Roberts.

This offseason, the Dodgers’ $240 million investment in Tucker sparked huge discussion because it set an all-time MLB record for AAV at $60 million. The short-term, high-dollar structure sent shockwaves across the league, reigniting intense debates about baseball’s financial landscape. The Dodgers were called out for “ruining” baseball. Still, LA went all-out for Tucker.

Reason for desperation? The Dodgers lacked an elite, everyday presence in the outfield. Hence, adding a Gold Glover and four-time All-Star like Tucker significantly upgraded both their defensive coverage and offensive production. But after playing 55 games, Tucker has yet to meet the expectations. His defensive stats, though offers a moderate presentation.

According to Baseball Savant, Tucker has a Fielding Run Value of -2 and an Outs Above Average OAA of -4, placing his defensive range in the bottom 7th percentile of the league. However, his arm remains an elite asset, sporting an Arm Value of 2 (95th percentile) and an Arm Strength of 84.7 mph. His offence is worse.

Although Roberts shared an optimistic view about Tucker’s stats in May, the numbers say otherwise. Kyle Tucker batted .230 in May and scored only 1 homer. In comparison, he scored 3 homers in April at .247. For reference, Tucker batted .274 with 123 HRs, 396 RBI, and a .876 OPS in his seven seasons with the Astros. The Dodgers expected the same, but nothing so far.

Roberts, though, is still betting on Tucker’s toughness. And 2025 was the proof that Tucker could rebound from his slump. Reportedly, following a finger injury and a hairline fracture in his hand, Tucker fell into a brutal slump in August. He batted just .182 during an extended stretch, posting a meager .560 OPS over 38 games. However, during a late August weekend series in Anaheim, Tucker snapped his slump by going 5-for-12 with four extra-base hits and seven RBIs.

Hopefully, Roberts’ pep-talk might work with Tucker, and as the Dodgers enter the critical stage post the All-Star break, he may find his rhythm back by then. However, not all gambles of the Dodgers are failing, at least till Roki Sasaki is concerned.

The Dodgers are finally getting the best of Sasaki

Roki Sasaki has had a roller coaster ride since he debuted with the Dodgers last year. He entered the MLB with a huge hype, but his right shoulder injury sidelined him for over three months. To compensate for the pain, he developed bad mechanics, which temporarily caused him to drop his slider and lose fastball velocity. This caused him to struggle in the rotation.

The Dodgers shifted Sasaki to the bullpen late in the 2025 season. The transition was wildly successful as he allowed only one run over 10⅔ innings, earning three saves and helping LA secure the World Series. Finally, Sasaki is back again in the rotation this year, and he is doing the expected stuff. On Saturday, his fastball averaged 98.5 mph. That’s an increase of about 1.5 mph from his season average. In addition, his diverse pitches, including slider, forkball, and splitter, are all back with elevated velocities.

“I’ve been making adjustments the last couple of days, and it felt like my velo was going to tick up a little bit, but I didn’t even imagine this much,” Sasaki said.

Just when Tyler Glasnow’s return got delayed as his recovery is taking time, Sasaki’s rebound comes at the right moment for the Dodgers. The team is currently leading the NL West and is 5 games ahead of the Padres. All guns started firing, and once Tucker comes back to his best, a three-peat record might not be an exaggeration anymore.