Everybody wants to be The Man. But not everybody can handle being The Man.
With two outs and the bases loaded against FSU in the fifth inning, UF sophomore Preston Tucker walked to the plate, took four pitches and trotted down to first base, extending Florida’s lead to 7-5.
Tucker is writing the book on how to handle being The Man.
After a stellar freshman campaign in which Tucker hit .364 with 15 home runs and a school-record 85 RBIs, the first baseman is no longer the nation’s best kept hitting secret.
Teams don’t want to let the power-hitting lefty beat them, which means Tucker gets little more than table scraps at the plate every game.
The Seminoles knew Tucker was hungry and not to be messed with, so they made the diplomatic decision to pay the bully half of their lunch money to just go away and leave them alone, rather than challenging him to a fight and risk losing their entire meal.
The impressive part of the whole thing is with all the pressure on Tucker to live up to expectations and devour everything in sight, he’s more than happy to go hungry if his teammates benefit as a result.
Instead of hacking at pitches out of the zone in an effort to boost his power numbers, the sophomore is showing immense maturity by being selective and taking his walks.
Tucker’s on-base percentage is a robust .493 after Tuesday’s game against FSU, up from .419 a year ago.
His slugging percentage is a “paltry” .550 compared to last year’s .628, but saving outs is more important than hitting for an extra base or two, not that I expect Tucker to be kept under .600 for much longer.
The arrival of freshman Austin Maddox has given the Gators another run-producing slugger in the middle of the lineup, which allows Tucker to take what opponents give him.
Maddox leads the team in homers and RBIs, thanks in part to Tucker.
Though his power numbers have taken a hit, Tucker’s ability to hit the ball for power certainly hasn’t.
The only time he left the plate without an RBI in his 2-for-3 performance was a blistering line drive to center field, and his sacrifice fly in the fourth inning was a foot away from being a grand slam when FSU right fielder James Ramsey caught it at the wall.
The inning prior, Tucker showed the packed crowd that he can still do more than trot down to first base when he blasted a solo home run over the right-center field wall. He can trot around all four bases if necessary.
On pg. 21 of Tucker’s book on how to be The Man it says: “In between taking walks for the betterment of your team, make sure to launch a few of your trade-mark light-tower homers.”
After all, you can’t be The Man without getting the girls. And chicks dig the long ball.
