Will Sitting Kyle Tucker For A Series Fix His Slump?

After Kyle Tucker went 0-for-4 against the Brewers on Monday afternoon, Cubs manager Craig Counsell announced that his right fielder was going to get multiple days off. The hope is that doing so will give Tucker a chance to clear his mind and stop the offensive free fall he has been on since at least the beginning of July.

Since July 1, Tucker’s OPS has dropped over 100 points, from .931 to .821. He hasn’t had an extra base hit since July 30 and has not homered since July 19; that’s the only home run Tucker has in almost the last two months of the season.

“The fans are frustrated and Kyle’s frustrated,” Counsell told reporters on Monday. “And it’s unfortunate, because Kyle, when you make outs, it doesn’t look great. But he’s trying. It’s just not clicking. We’re going to have to take a little step back here, for sure, and just give him some days off to reset him, hopefully.

“Because he’s frustrated and we’re not coming up with solutions for him and he’s not coming up with solutions. Sometimes you have to take some steps back to go forward again.”

Though Tucker has insisted it is not the case, many have wondered if the finger injury he suffered at the beginning of June is to blame for his offensive woes.

Tucker got a day off as a “reset” almost two weeks ago, and at the time, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told reporters that he wondered whether the injured finger wasn’t a significant factor in Tucker’s decline at the plate.

“I know it did bother him for a while,” Hoyer said. “I don’t know whether it still bothers him, whether it created some bad habits along the way with compensating and things like that. There’s no question that when you look at his numbers, it’s had an impact on him, for sure. That’s the nature sometimes of these small injuries — they can do that.”

Both the Cubs and Tucker need him to get right at the plate again. He was a big part of why they were in first place in the National League Central at the end of May, and Tucker’s struggles on offense are probably a significant part of why they are now eight games behind the Brewers in mid-August.

To be fair, Milwaukee has been on an otherworldly run and winning at a historic pace for at least two months, but a Cubs offense with a full-strength Tucker has a much better chance of staving them off or catching up in the season’s final six weeks if they are to have any shot at salvaging their division title hopes.

There’s also the personal importance for Tucker. Whether or not this reset fixes what’s been wrong is the $500 million question. The Cubs traded for Tucker last December, giving up two major leaguers and their most recent first round draft pick to get him, knowing that the most likely scenario at the end of the 2025 season would be Tucker hitting the free agent market, where he is expected to command top dollar and a lot of years.

Early in the season, Tucker was playing so well that it sparked some speculation that the Cubs might preempt his move to free agency by signing Tucker to a contract extension, even with the hefty price tag. Such talk has gotten very quiet of late.

Add in the fact that the Cubs have viable outfield replacements in the organization, and the likelihood they make a sizable offer to keep Tucker in Chicago gets smaller. One of those potential replacements – Owen Caissie – made his debut with the big league club last week and homered and drove in three runs in a much-needed win over the Brewers Tuesday, while playing right field in Tucker’s place.

Caissie, acquired by the Cubs in the Yu Darvish trade in 2020, is just 23 years old and has the potential to be a real impact bat in the Cubs’ lineup. In 93 games for Triple-A Iowa before his callup, Caissie had 22 home runs and 26 doubles with a .955 OPS. Rather than paying to keep Tucker, the Cubs might prefer to keep the loaded-with-potential Caissie and his years of inexpensive team control instead.

If that is what is going to happen, Tucker still realistically has a chance to get a healthy contract in the offseason. His career numbers show that Tucker’s offense for the past few months is not indicative of the kind of hitter he is. His current performance is an aberration, not the norm. And if his finger is a part of what is causing his struggles, time off now or in the offseason will solve that problem. Tucker could return to form this season, but even if he doesn’t, his suitors know that getting rest during the offseason should get Tucker back on track. There’s no reason not to think Tucker can get back to his usual offensive performance come 2026, and at 28, he probably still has many years of league-leading offense left in him.

Even still, teams can use his struggles this year to justify lower offers come winter, so even though Kyle Tucker’s contract this winter will likely still be a large one, he is costing himself money with every out he makes at the plate right now. Both Tucker and the Cubs have to hope a few games off will get him right again.