April 20th, 2019 was the beginning of the Cole Tucker era in Pittsburgh. Tucker, a highly touted Pirates prospect, was given the opportunity to leadoff for the major league team that drafted him in the first round just five years prior. Fast Forward to the bottom of the 5th inning, clouds rolling in, the forecast calling for severe thunderstorms throughout the evening, the game is tied and most likely going to be called in the next few minutes. Tucker steps up to the plate and crushes a Derek Holland pitch into the shrubbery in center field, giving the Pirates a 3-1 lead and the win just before rain let loose which would cut the game short.
Stories of the rookie coming out of the tunnel during the delay to meet fans and sign autographs, matched by the soundbites of his first post game interview in the big leagues provided the Pirates organization something they haven’t had in almost 10 years, a breath of fresh air. Tucker’s in game heroics matched with his charisma both on and off the field gave the city of Pittsburgh a story and possibly a new face for years to come. Then came the losing streak in which Tucker batted just .214 in 28 plate appearances. While the losing streak ended for the team, Tucker continued his struggles as he has gone just 3-22 and .136 since the losing streak was broken.
While his batting numbers have taken a dip his fielding has remained stellar. The reassurance of having Tucker’s sure handedness at short is something that the Pirates missed with Erik Gonzalez earlier in the season. This, paired with the injury to Kevin Newman, is likely the reason that Tucker has remained with the Pirates, instead of being sent back to Indianapolis. However, his batting numbers will need to improve if he wants to solidify a spot in the majors. His struggles though, are not entirely on his shoulders, and can be attributed to the managing of Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle.
After his first few games in the majors Cole Tucker was dropped in the lineup by Clint Hurdle, in favor of a returning Adam Frazier who took over leadoff duties. Tucker fell all the way to the 8th spot in the lineup, where he has now spent the majority of his stint with the Pirates. Batting from that spot Tucker has struggled mightily batting just .103 with only three hits in 29 at bats. While Tucker should be held accountable for those numbers, there is something to be said about Hurdle continuously keeping him in this position.
It is well known that when batting eighth, especially in the National League, batters will see much less to hit due to the pitcher spot being right behind them in most situations. While that is something that major league batters must figure out, it is stupid for an experienced manager like Hurdle to place a rookie in that position on a constant basis. I’m not saying that Tucker deserves to be the leadoff man over Frazier, but Hurdle can definitely figure out a way to move him up the lineup even if it is only a couple spots. It couldn’t hurt the flow of the lineup too much to place more experienced batters in the eight spot like Colin Moran or Francisco Cervelli, who could be considered middle lineup guys but would be able to manage seeing less hittable pitches better due to their experience.
Where it gets even more frustrating is during games like Sunday, where Adam Frazier was taken out of the starting lineup for rest, yet Tucker still sat at eight while they moved Starling Marte up a spot to hit leadoff. Hurdle also played Kevin Newman, and Elias Diaz above Tucker in the lineup.
Tucker has a long career ahead of him, and will certainly get many opportunities to bat higher up in the lineup. Let’s just hope Hurdle figures out how to better manage young players like Tucker in time to allow them to shine in Pittsburgh, instead of after they get traded away like Austin Meadows or Keon Broxton. Tucker is charismatic and will be a household name in baseball for a long long time, and I can’t wait to see what he will be able to do when he gets the chance.
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