Finally, some clarity comes in on the Kyle Tucker situation. The Cubs outfielder is sitting in his third straight game while amid a brutal slump. Most assumed that manager Craig Counsell was benching him so he could clear his head and work on hitting mechanics. But now ESPN’s Jesse Rogers is reporting that the absence is more related to injury than we initially knew.
The timeline is interesting, for sure. Tucker injured his right hand on the first day of June, but posted a .982 OPS in the month. When you’re swinging that sweet of a bat, there’s no reason to think that going on the injured list is necessary. But he took a step back in July with a .675 OPS, hitting one total home run in the entire month. Then he took several steps back, going right off a cliff with a .381 OPS in August.
With the Cubs struggling and sitting in a more precarious playoff position, it makes sense to put Tucker on the injured list and wait for things to get better. Letting him suffer through his struggles while the team is winning is one thing; having him be an active detriment is another. It seems likely that Chicago will place him on the retroactive injured list and sit him for another week, then ramp him up through September.
Tucker, 28, is batting .261 with 18 home runs and 25 stolen bases this year. It’s an inopportune time for the impending free agent, who is hoping to cash in on a deal in the neighborhood of $500 million. Hopefully, for Tucker and the Cubs, his absence will be a brief one.
