Tucker Is on Rise in Great Falls

Jon Tucker thought he was a pretty good hitter. Why wouldn’t he, coming out of Chatsworth High with a .370 average and signing with the Dodgers as an eighth-round pick?

The 18-year-old had pretty high expectations last summer as he set out for Yakima, Wash., and his first season of professional baseball.

“I thought it was just going out and playing every day,” he said. “There weren’t really any mechanical things I needed to change; I thought I could just go out and perform.”

It was quite a performance, one that wouldn’t last 10 seconds on the Gong Show.

Tucker batted .165, striking out about once every three at-bats.

“It was a total shock,” he said. “I didn’t realize how much I needed to work to improve in all fields.”

Tucker can laugh about it now that he’s back for his second helping of professional baseball and feasting on it. Playing for Great Falls, Mont., of the rookie-level Pioneer League--a step below Yakima--he is batting .370 with 40 runs batted in and a .605 slugging percentage, all among the league leaders. He also has five home runs.

Tucker, who didn’t seem to understand much about pro baseball a year ago, has a better grasp on it now. He’s philosophical about his forgettable season.

“They really don’t expect much of you the first year,” he said. “If you do good, that’s fine, but the first year they just want to see fundamentals and stuff. The second year they want you to put up good numbers, and that’s what I’ve done.”

Charlie Blaney, the Dodgers’ director of player development, said much of Tucker’s turnaround can be attributed to Mickey Hatcher, a former Dodger who is managing Great Falls.

“Jon has really done well ever since extended spring training,” Blaney said. “I think he’s related well to Mickey Hatcher. Mickey has Jon all fired up. He’s swinging a hot bat and playing well defensively.”

Tucker said Hatcher has helped him, as has Dodger hitting coach Reggie Smith, who worked with him in the off-season at Smith’s baseball school in the Valley.

“[Smith] has really helped me hitting the curve and the changeup well,” Tucker said. “That’s what you see a lot, because anyone can hit a fastball.”

Some of Tucker’s hitting exploits have surprised even him. Last Sunday, with his parents in town to see him play, Tucker hit a grand slam and a three-run homer.

“I’m just a madman out there now,” he said.

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As Dave Landaker can attest, the race to the major leagues is a little like the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain: If you slow down, even for a second, you’ll get run over.

Landaker, taken in the second round of the 1992 draft by the Houston Astros when he left Royal High, had the first two seasons of his pro career all but washed out by a shoulder injury.

Now, in his fifth season and still in Class A, Landaker is realizing how critical that early setback was.

“Every season the organization drafts more players and [the organization needs] to watch them play, so you end up splitting time,” Landaker said. “I feel if I would have been solid from the start, I could have moved a lot quicker.”

Landaker, 22, drafted as a shortstop, is playing left field for the Astros’ affiliate in Kissimmee, Fla. Because of a glut of outfielders and a series of nagging injuries, he’s had only 108 at-bats, hitting .194.

“When you are not in the lineup every day your timing is off and it’s a lot tougher,” he said. “Then when you come back in, it feels foreign.”

Because he has played so little, this year has been virtually worthless in Landaker’s development.

“It’s no one’s fault,” said Dan O’Brien, Astros’ director of player development. “But unfortunately for us and for him, we’re in kind of a holding pattern here.”

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Short hops: Shortstop Junior Brignac (Cleveland High), the Atlanta Braves’ third-round pick in last month’s draft, learned a hard lesson about the minors this week. In two days his average dropped from .268 to .239. He went hitless in 10 at-bats. Brignac struck out in 26 of his first 92 at-bats. . . .

J.P. Roberge (St. Francis High), playing at his third level in the Dodger organization this season, went four for five with three RBIs on Thursday night for triple-A Albuquerque. Roberge, a utilityman, has 22 hits in 46 at-bats with the Dukes. . . .

Right-hander Tim Carr (Westlake) has had a strong debut with the New York Mets’ affiliate in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League. Carr, a 35th-round pick, picked up his fifth save with four solid innings Wednesday. In 19 2/3 innings, Carr has a 1.37 ERA and 17 strikeouts. . . .

Russ Ortiz (Montclair Prep) lost his first double-A game Friday night. Ortiz, the closer for the San Francisco Giants’ team in Shreveport, La., entered against Midland, Texas, in the bottom of the ninth with a 7-6 lead. He gave up a hit and three walks and lost, 8-7. . . .

Outfielder Chris Fick (Newbury Park) had a home run and four RBIs for Arkansas, the St. Louis Cardinals’ double-A team, on Wednesday. . . .

Right-hander Craig Clayton (Cal State Northridge) was promoted from the San Diego Padres’ Class-A team in Rancho Cucamonga to double-A Memphis.