Predicting the Dodgers lineup with Kyle Tucker: Where does the new outfielder fit for the champions?

As "problems" go, Dave Roberts has an enviable one when it comes to filling out his Dodgers lineup card in 2026. It was a lineup already stuffed with superstars at the top, and now Kyle Tucker, the top free agent available this offseason, has been added to the mix. 

Tucker and the Dodgers on Thursday night agreed to a four-year, $240 million pact with a pair of opt outs, and now Roberts' lineup will include Tucker, Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and Will Smith, for starters. Now let's get back to that enviable problem that will confront Roberts this season as he and the Dodgers attempt to pull off the elusive three-peat. 

Here's a reasonably educated guess: 

1. Shohei Ohtani, DH, Bats: L
2. Mookie Betts, SS, Bats: R
3. Freddie Freeman, 1B, Bats: L
4. Kyle Tucker, RF, Bats: L
5. Will Smith, C, Bats: R
6. Max Muncy, 3B, Bats: L
7. Teoscar Hernández, LF, Bats: R
8. Andy Pages, CF, Bats: R
9. Tommy Edman, 2B, Bats: B 

Winners and losers of the Kyle Tucker signing: Dodgers, Mets, Blue Jays, Cody Bellinger and more

R.J. Anderson

When it comes to filling out a Dodger lineup that now includes the likes of Tucker, it makes sense to lean on the certainties to begin. Ohtani is going to bat leadoff and Betts is almost certainly going to bat second. After those first two slots, things are less obvious. Do you keep Freeman in the No. 3 spot even though Tucker figures to out-produce him? After all, Freeman, while still an excellent hitter, is going into his age-36 season, and Tucker was putting up MVP numbers before nagging injuries sapped his numbers down the stretch with the Cubs last season. On the other hand, Tucker has remarkably balanced platoon splits for his career and he could punish a lefty reliever who's summoned to face Freeman and his less balanced splits. For now, Tucker gets cleanup duty. 

Smith, one of the best-hitting catchers in baseball, comes next. If Freeman shows signs of decline in 2026, then perhaps you elevate Tucker to the third spot and put Smith at cleanup, but for now the future Hall of Famer Freeman has more than earned the benefit of the doubt. For that matter, let's address Betts and the fact that he's coming off the worst offensive season of his career. If he further declines at the plate in 2026, then it'll be hard to justify keeping him that high in the lineup. If that's the case, then maybe Roberts will be nudged into a top four that goes Ohtani-Tucker-Smith-Freeman. That, much like the theoretical dropping of Freeman in the order, is for months down the road.

Moving on, Muncy and his corrective eyewear make a strong six hitter, and then comes Hernández, who has good pop by back-half-of-the-lineup standards. Pages brings youth and upside to the eight hole and the switch-hitting Edman winds things up at No. 9. 

Last season, two concerns for the Dodgers were the lack of lineup depth and the age of their core hitters. Tucker addresses both issues, and his presence gives Roberts an abundance of options at the front end of the lineup and also paths to take if one of his older stalwart hitters begins showing his years in 2026.

Sure, where to deploy Tucker is a difficult decision in a certain sense, but any plausible answer is a correct answer. Framed another way, the team that last season ranked second in MLB in runs scored, second in home runs, second in wOBA, and third in xwOBA just added a player who in 2026 might be their second-best hitter. It's a fearsome top five in L.A. no matter how you shuffle the pieces.