Kyle Tucker's home run Monday in Cincinnati was his third in his last five games. In that span he's raised his slugging percentage from a season-low .350 on Sept. 8 to .376 entering Tuesday's rematch against the Reds.

September is halfway through, and it's shaping into Tucker's best month of the season. If it seems like he's stopped pressing at the plate, perhaps Tucker let up on himself after getting some needed reassurance in a one-on-one meeting with Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

“I told him, I’m gonna ride or die with him,” Roberts said (via Jack Harris of the California Post). “That was my young term phrase.”

It's been a rough ride for Tucker in his first season in Los Angeles. The Dodgers signed the four-time All-Star to a four-year, $240 million contract over the winter. Despite being baseball's highest-paid player this season, Tucker hit only one home run in his first 17 games of the season.

Things didn't get much better from there. Among 138 qualified hitters through the end of August, Tucker's .683 OPS ranked 116th.

"I was prepared, the organization was prepared, to give him as much leash as we possibly could to work through some things, and I do think that now we’re starting to see the fruits,” Roberts said. “So I see no other reason why we would pivot from running him out there every day.”

Fans might beg to differ.

At Triple-A Oklahoma City, outfielder James Tibbs III has 29 home runs and 101 RBIs to go with a .417 on-base percentage. Prospect Josue De Paula, who's played right field in the minors, was promoted to take Shohei Ohtani's place on the active roster.

Since his debut, the 21-year-old has reached base in half of his first 14 plate appearances. Sunday, he hit his first career home run. Perhaps Roberts needed to reassure Tucker that De Paula wasn't coming for his job to unlock his production, a curious case of reverse psychology.

It will be hard for the Dodgers to take De Paula out of the lineup if he maintains his current level of production. Roberts said prior to Ohtani's IL stint that the team wasn't considering using him in the outfield.

Tucker, for his part, can reduce the Dodgers' temptation to use Ohtani or De Paula in right field if he continues to hit like a $60 million All-Star.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on X/Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.