Kyle Tucker knows how his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers looked from the outside.
The outfielder signed a four-year, $240 million deal last winter that carried the highest average annual value in baseball history. He then produced the weakest numbers of his career.
The Dodgers still finished 100-62 and earned the National League’s No. 2 seed, along with a first-round bye. They will open the Division Series on Saturday at Dodger Stadium against the winner of the Braves-Phillies Wild Card Series.
Tucker, speaking to The Athletic this week, framed the year around the only result that matters to him now.
“The expectation of the fanbase and of ourselves is to get to the playoffs and win a World Series,” Tucker said. “So at the end of the day, if we can get that job done, it doesn’t really matter how you got there, as long as you get there.”
That is the standard the two-time defending champions set for themselves. Tucker’s regular-season line will not change it.
He hit .233 with a .330 on-base percentage and .385 slugging percentage in 154 games. He finished with 17 home runs and 70 RBI. His 0.7 WAR ranked among the lowest of any everyday player on a contender.
Those numbers marked career lows in average, slugging and OPS. It was also the first time in his nine-year career he failed to reach 20 homers.
The slump included a 26-at-bat hitless stretch and visible defensive lapses. One dropped fly ball in Colorado drew silence in the dugout. Another at Dodger Stadium drew boos.
Tucker said the noise around his contract and body language does not occupy him.
“Whether I was getting paid what I am or $1, I don’t really care,” he said. “I’m just going to go out and play and try and do the best I can regardless of the situation.”
He added that production is the only currency that counts.
“I mean, it comes down really just to production,” Tucker said. “If you’re raking, no one really cares. If you’re not, then it becomes a problem.”
Teammates described a reserved player who still showed up for extra hitting work and clubhouse card games. First baseman Freddie Freeman said Tucker talked through his swing after games even when results lagged.
Hitting coaches pointed to lingering effects from a fractured right hand Tucker suffered with the Cubs in 2025. They spent months trying to restore his previous bat path.
Tucker declined to use the injury as an explanation.
“I don’t really put blame on a certain injury or something that happened in the past,” he said. “I still have to go out and produce. There’s not really an excuse for it; you just have to go out there and get your job done.”
The 29-year-old was the No. 5 overall pick by Houston in 2015. He won a World Series with the Astros, made three All-Star teams and collected a Gold Glove and two Silver Slugger awards before a one-year stop in Chicago.
October now offers the chance to rewrite the first chapter of his Dodgers tenure. A strong postseason would not erase the regular-season numbers, but it would change how they are remembered.
The alternative is another expensive chapter in a season already defined by them.
