Kyle Tucker doing the bare minimum to try to shake Dodgers slump won't win fans over

The Los Angeles Dodgers' $240 million man is hitting .249 with a .730 OPS and was passed over in All-Star selections for the first time since 2021. Kyle Tucker hasn't been bad enough to be called a total bust (yet), but when a player is given a contract with the second-highest AAV in the game's history, fans can't be blamed for being upset when that player underperforms.

The Dodgers, of course, have been supportive. Dave Roberts even made a hilariously misguided but well-meaning comparison between Tucker's struggles this year and Michael Conforto's last season. The party line has been something like: "It's not ideal, but his track record speaks for itself. We're going to do whatever we can to help him."

But in what was ostensibly a Tucker fluff piece from ESPN — "please, oh, please, stop being mean to the poor multimillionaire, he's dong his best" — it doesn't sound like Tucker has actually been that amenable to help.

Alden Gonzalez wrote that Tucker has started taking postgame batting practice, "a rarity in the major leagues" ... but that's basically it. That isn't good enough.

It's going to take more than ESPN's Kyle Tucker fluff piece to make Dodgers fans sympathize with him

Gonzalez writes, "[Tucker] won't religiously show up for early on-field work like Betts and Freddie Freeman and so many of the Dodgers' position players do, but, as [Dodgers hitting coach Aaron] Bates said, 'You can care in a different way.' Those postgame batting practice sessions are proof of that."

Are they, though?

When the Dodgers signed Tucker in January, it came after an offseason full of chatter about whether or not Tucker cared enough about the game. The Dodgers signed him anyway, because why concern themselves with how much he cared as long as he kept hitting? Joke's on them: he's not hitting. At least, not to the standard they expected.

Gonzalez acknowledges that previous teammates and coaches have described Tucker as "relatively apathetic" about baseball and "puts in less extra time working at it than most." The only evidence that Tucker has changed his ways with the Dodgers is, apparently, these postgame batting practices. If that's praiseworthy, then maybe we need to raise the standards for our superstars.

The Dodgers clearly don't need Tucker to carry them. He doesn't even have to be exceptional for the Dodgers to keep on winning. But when he's making this much money, we all need to see more effort.

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