Houston Astros fans did not give Kyle Tucker the warmest of welcomes during his return to Daikin Park in Houston, Texas.
Tucker came up to bat with Los Angeles Dodgers runners on first and second and two outs in the bottom of the first inning. The Astros faithful booed him heavily before he took his first pitch from opener Steven Okert.
The scene confused Dodgers announcer Joe Davis, who wondered aloud why Houstonians jeered Tucker as if he wasn’t traded by the Astros two seasons ago.
“Kyle Tucker gets a chance here, and apparently, these fans don’t know that Tucker was traded,” Davis said on the SNLA broadcast. “He didn’t trade himself, as they boo him coming up to the plate.”
Kyle Tucker got booed in his return to Houston. 😂 pic.twitter.com/W8R6IMdfKQ
— DodgersMuse (@LADodgersMuse) May 5, 2026
The Astros traded Tucker to the Chicago Cubs in December 2024. The deal was considered a cost-cutting move as Tucker was heading into his final year of team control at the time.
The veteran outfielder played seven seasons in Houston, garnering three All-Star nods during that time and even earning himself a top-5 MVP finish in 2023. But those seven years of service were apparently outweighed by his decision to join a rival Dodgers team in the offseason.
Tucker didn’t let the boos from his former fanbase faze him. He blooped a single to left field to drive in the first run of the game.
Kyle Tucker torches an RBI single to start the scoring. pic.twitter.com/FFchMHOt4F
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) May 5, 2026
It’s the second time this season Tucker has been booed heavily by an opposing fanbase. The Toronto Blue Jays crowd gave Tucker the same treatment last month, despite him not even being on the World Series team that beat the Blue Jays last November.
