Kyle Tucker 2019 Outlook: Still A Top Prospect In Houston
5 years agoKyle Tucker’s MLB debut didn’t go as planned. The Houston Astros top prospect played only 28 games in the majors and hit .141 without a single home run. The bright side was that Tucker’s BABIP was an almost unfair .176 and Statcast projected him for a .268 average and .382 slugging percentage. Those numbers would have been disappointing, but they probably would have been good enough to keep Tucker in the majors. However, Houston saw the performance as more than just bad luck and sent him back to AAA in mid-August. The silver lining here is that Tucker did manage a 20-20 season in 2018: he hit 24 HR and 20 SB in just 100 games at AAA. The Michael Brantley signing gives some cause for concern, but the Astros are World Series hopefuls, so Tucker will have to beat out Josh Reddick for a job in the outfield or wait for an injury to create an opportunity. With an ADP of 199, Tucker is a late-round flier who could turn into an OF2, but that would require a full reversal in his luck and for him to capitalize on his prodigious talent.