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Cole Tucker is Showing Flashes of His Potential in Bradenton

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BRADENTON, Fla. – It may not appear so in the stat line, but Cole Tucker is showing some promise in his jump to the Florida State League. The early numbers for Tucker since his promotion have been down, with a .220/.295/.291 line in 141 at-bats. However, when I’ve seen Tucker live this year, I’ve liked the approach he takes at the plate, and the solid contact he makes with the ball.

Bradenton manager Michael Ryan also likes what he sees so far, while noting that there are some things to work on.

“You can tell he’s 20,” Ryan said. “Got some things to work on as far as approach and pitch selection. He puts the work in. He’s very raw. He’s a good leader. Definitely a lot stronger from the left side than the right side. There’s things he needs to work on, that’s why he’s here. I like what I see so far.”

Tucker just turned 20 at the start of this month, making him one of the youngest players in the Florida State League. He’s the third youngest hitter and the fifth youngest player on the qualified leader boards. That aggressive promotion is probably leading to the poor numbers right now, and he’d most likely have better results if he stayed in West Virginia all year. Last year in West Virginia he had a .798 OPS in July, following a .796 OPS in June, before going down with labrum surgery. He returned to West Virginia this year, and after a slow first week, he put up an .858 OPS, leading to his promotion to Bradenton.

The numbers would be much better if he had stayed in West Virginia, but the Pirates want to give him a challenge and continue his development. Offensively, that involves facing a higher quality of pitching.

“Guys pitch backwards a little bit more [in the Florida State League],” Tucker said, when comparing the two levels. “Some teams aren’t as fastball oriented as they were in the Sally league. But that’s okay. It is what it is. We, as hitters, adjust and work off the fastball, and just try to hit the pitch that we want to hit, and not necessarily the pitch they want to give us.”

As Ryan said, Tucker has struggled from the right side. He’s just 1-for-27 this year in Bradenton against left-handers, compared to a .679 OPS in Bradenton against right-handers. In West Virginia this year, he went 1-for-7 against left-handers, and had a .779 OPS against right-handers. But Tucker has shown potential against lefties, actually putting up a .797 OPS last year, compared to a .656 OPS against right-handers. He chalks up the struggles this year to the lack of consistent work on the swing. So how can he counter this lack of work?

“Just divvying up my splits from right to left [in practice],” Tucker said. “It’s tough not getting as many right-handed at-bats in games, but just working with it and continuing to grow with it.”

Tucker made some changes in his swing last year, dropping his hands down a bit in order to shorten his swing and allow him to do better against off-speed pitches, seeing the ball deeper in the zone. He’s still working with that, and feels more comfortable with the approach. The Pirates took the same approach with Austin Meadows, Reese McGuire, and a few other hitters.

“It’s the thing to do,” Tucker said. “Drinking the Kool-Aid. But it’s been going well.”

This year, Tucker is more focused on the mental approach and pitch selection, making sure he’s swinging at pitches he can drive, rather than swinging at a pitcher’s pitch, which is something he sees more often in Bradenton, compared to West Virginia.

Defensively, Tucker also has some things to work on, but is showing some good signs.

“I’ve been doing really well,” Tucker said. “As always, I take pride in my defense. It’s been going really well. I feel like I still have good range. Arm feels great. I’m ten months out of surgery now, it feels really good. Getting the ball across the infield and making plays I wasn’t making before when I first came back. That’s how it is. Shoulder surgery is a work in progress. I’m still not fully where I should be, technically. I’m still healing. But I’m in a good spot defensively. I feel really good, and really comfortable at shortstop, and making some plays, just trying to take care of our staff and take care of our pitchers.”

The biggest concern with Tucker, heading into the season, was the impact his labrum surgery would have on his ability to stick at shortstop. That surgery is a career killer for pitchers, sapping their arm strength. That hasn’t been the case for Tucker.

“My arm is stronger than it was before the surgery,” Tucker said. “I feel like I’m back where I was. Obviously, there’s still room to grow, and some stuff I can work on, but it feels really good. It feels strong.”

Tucker chalks this up to his young age, but his hard work in his rehab process definitely made it possible for him to make a positive return.

“Youth has definitely been on my side,” Tucker said. “Just really being diligent and not taking days off with the strengthening in the training room. I went into it with a really positive and optimistic mindset. I had the belief that I was going to have to work really hard to get back. I was aware of that. And then just putting in the work everyday to move forward, continue to get stronger, and not let it be a career killer, or be that death sentence that guys say that it is.”

As for his defensive work, Ryan pointed out that he just needs reps and innings, and that he still hasn’t played a full season in pro ball yet, due to the labrum surgery. Tucker’s defensive work isn’t the step-by-step focus like Kevin Newman had, where he would focus on his set-up, then expand to focus on his first step, and continue expanding from there. He was expecting some upcoming work with Pirates Infield Coordinator Gary Green, which might add a bigger focus for him in the final months of the season.

One of the things Ryan pointed out was Tucker’s range to his left side. The very next night, Tucker made a huge play late in the game to his left, diving to stop a grounder that went over the bag, and flipping the ball from his stomach to second, starting a key double play. The night before, he went 1-for-6 with a double, although he had several other hard hit balls that went for outs.

That’s what you’re seeing from Tucker right now. It’s flashes of his potential that make him a top prospect, but nothing consistent enough for the numbers to match the skills. That will come in the future, and it might require him to stick around in Bradenton for another year. He can certainly afford that at his young age, and the Pirates can afford to take their time with Tucker, since they’ve now got Kevin Newman ahead of him. But Tucker is a guy who has the skills to be a starter in the majors, with the offensive upside and speed to start at second, if needed, and the defensive upside and range to stick at shortstop. For now, that’s mostly potential, as those skills are still raw at a young age.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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