Kyle Tucker and gloves – A study

Fans often discuss players having a good first half or second half of the season. With Kyle Tucker in 2023 though, we can clearly see a different delineation – Tucker with and without batting gloves.

I went back and checked to see when Tucker consistently switched to gloves full time. The change came in a home series against the Nationals following a disappointing roadtrip in which the Astros won just 2 of 7, including that frustrating 14-inning loss to the Guardians. Kyle had a strong opener to the road trip, going 3 for 5 with a home run against Toronto, but saw his average drop from .284 to .268 and his OPS fall from .816 to .773 — cue the gloves.

In the 64 games prior to switching to gloves, Tucker slashed .268/.345/.429 with 8 HR and 38 RBI. We all know Kyle is a slow starter, but coming out of the World Baseball Classic he actually started April on a hot streak compared to years past. Five of his eight home runs came in the first month of the season and he was sporting an .859 OPS. It wasn't until May that his struggles began.

Since switching to gloves, however, Kyle has been the hottest player on the team not named Chas McCormick. In the 30 games since donning gloves, Tucker is slashing .360/.443/.613 with 6 HRs and 24 RBI. Unfortunately this hasn't translated into a huge success for the Astros as whole, who have gone just 16-14 over that period.

Since this post began with talking about first/second half performances, I'll close with Tucker's pre-All Star Break numbers: .288/.365/.471 with 13 HRs and 56 RBI, and we all know how hot he's been since the start of the second half. If Kyle decides to stick with the gloves and maintains this pace, he'll have no problem crossing the 30 HR & 100 RBI threshold again this year.

If anyone's got skills in looking at statcast numbers divided up before and after the June 13 switch, I'd be interested in finding how if there's been any change in his exit velo as well.