Preston Tucker (San Diego Padres), who is aiming to re-enter the major leagues at the age of 33, is maintaining a decent batting average in limited opportunities. Will Tucker be able to eat the rice of his dreams with Kim Ha-seong and the Padres this year?
Tucker contributed to the team’s 10-3 victory with 2 at bats, 1 hit and 1 run in an exhibition game against the 2023 Major League Oakland Athletics held at Peoria Stadium in Peoria, Arizona on the 6th (hereinafter Korean time).
Tucker, who started the game off the bench, stepped on the ground as a runner-up to Nelson Cruz, who got on base with a left-handed hit in the fifth inning, leading 5-2. The replacement called luck. After reaching third base through second base on consecutive walks by Austin Nola and Brandon Dixon, Tucker was responsible for running away on Jackson Merrill’s left-handed hit. It was the score that opened the prelude to San Diego’s 5-run big innings in the 5th inning.
At bat, he reported a hit. With no runners on first out in the 6th inning, leading 10-2, he got on base with an infield hit by shortstop against left-hander Sam Moll of Oakland. It was the first hit he tasted in six games since the match against the Los Angeles Dodgers on February 28. Failed to score extra run on missed follow-up. Afterwards, in the 8th inning, with no runners out, the center fielder hit a fly ball to finish the game. Adding one hit, Tucker’s exhibition batting average rose from .286 to .333 (3 hits in 9 at-bats). 메이저놀이터
Tucker wore a KIA uniform in 2019 and scored a total of 364 games in 3 seasons, a batting average of 2.84, 388 hits, 50 homers and 222 RBIs. After joining as a substitute for Jeremy Hazlebaker in the 2019 season and renewing the contract, he showed off his firepower with a batting average of 30.6 and 32 homers in the 2020 season. After leaving KIA at the end of the 2021 season, he signed a minor contract with Atlanta last year, but failed to call up the big leagues, and signed a minor contract with San Diego again in December of last year, aiming for Hansol Rice with Ha-seong Kim.
Due to the nature of his minor contract, opportunities to play are limited. Among them, Tucker is showing an impressive performance with 3 hits in 9 at-bats, 2 walks, 1 walk and an on-base percentage of .500 in 9 games. His first game, from Seattle on February 25th to San Francisco on March 1st, he succeeded in getting on base in 4 consecutive games with walks-hits-hits-four-runs. . It remains to be seen if he can make a comeback in the big leagues after 5 seasons since the 2018 season.
Meanwhile, in the San Diego spring camp, besides Tucker, many KBO league experienced players such as Wilmer Font, Angel Sanchez, and Aaron Brooks are aiming to enter the big leagues. Brooks has an average ERA of 9.00 with 1 win in 2 games, and Sanchez has an ERA of 0 with 1 save in 2 games. Font has no record of appearances yet.