Hooks' Tucker hits fourth homer in six games

After a rough start, Kyle Tucker is getting settled in with Double-A Corpus Christi.
The Astros' No. 2 prospect homered for the fourth time in six games en route to his first three-hit game in the Texas League, powering the Hooks to an 11-4 win over Frisco on Saturday. 

"I've been here a couple of weeks now. I've definitely had to make adjustments since I got promoted," Tucker said. "When I started with Corpus, I was swinging out of the zone a lot, so I had to pull that back and focused on hitting my pitches and not swinging at everything."
Gameday box score
Through his first 13 Texas League games, the 2015 first-round pick was hitting .232 and sported a .645 OPS. Since then, he's raised his batting average 33 points and OPS to .848
"One of the first things that I noticed was that the pitching was a lot better," Tucker said. "They could locate better and had sharper break on their secondary pitches. So, I realized I couldn't keep swinging at pitches out of the zone -- even though I know I can hit it, that doesn't mean I could do anything with it. So, I've had to make them throw it over the plate rather than nibble on the corner and that approach has helped me."

Batting second in the first inning, the Tampa native jumped on a first-pitch changeup from Collin Wiles (6-4) and put it out over the fence in right-center to open the scoring.
"Yesterday, they started me out with a slider on the first pitch and I got a lot of off-speed through the game. So, I saw the changeup out of the hand pretty early and it stayed up in the zone and I decided to take a hack at it," Tucker explained.
It was the sixth homer for MLB.com's No. 29 overall prospect since he joined the Hooks on May 30, but just the second one that he pulled.
"You kind of have to play depending on how the park is," Tucker said. "Here in Corpus, the wind doesn't always blow but when it does it goes out to left. So, instead of taking those outside pitches, you can flick one out that way. And at the same time, I may take some more inside pitches because if I lift one out to right there's a good chance it'll get hung up in the wind."
Tucker singled to left in the fifth before driving in two runs with another base knock in the eighth. It was his third game with at least three hits this year. 

Astros No. 27 prospect Jason Martin, who was promoted with Tucker from Class A Advanced Buies Creek, went 3-for-4 with a homer. He has a .354/.386/.633 slash line with four homers and 12 RBIs in 20 games with the Hooks.

"I've played with him since the end of last year, so we've built a strong relationship. It was awesome to see him have another great night tonight and keep doing well here," Tucker said.