CHICAGO -- Kyle Tucker had been looking more and more like himself in the batter’s box of late, and that continued on Tuesday night. The Cubs’ right fielder took the kind of swing that furthered that feeling, launching a baseball high over left field and into the bleachers in the third inning.
The momentum-swinging three-run blast -- the kind the Cubs need from their star as the playoffs continue to inch closer -- sent the North Siders on their way to a 4-3 victory over the Braves at Wrigley Field. And then Tucker’s early exit due to left calf tightness added another obstacle in his ongoing effort to fully return to his early-season form.
“I feel good at the plate,” Tucker said. “We’re playing pretty solid ball and had another really good one tonight. I feel fine. Yeah, it kind of sucks I wasn’t able to finish the game or add anything to that, but the team really did a good job.”
With the National League Central-leading Brewers (85-54) idle on Tuesday, the Cubs (80-59) were able to trim their deficit in the division to an even five games. The North Siders joined the Brewers, Phillies, Blue Jays and Tigers as the only teams to have reached 80 wins so far this season, and they hold the NL’s top Wild Card spot.
Tucker was lifted in the seventh inning due to the calf issue, which he noted had been a minor issue for the last few days. The outfielder alerted the ballclub to the soreness and then went through treatment prior to Tuesday’s game. As the night wore on, Tucker said the problem worsened, prompting his exit.
“I did as much as I could,” Tucker said. “Eventually, I was like, ‘I’d rather not try to test this much further and make it any more than it really is.’”
With a team off-day looming on Thursday, Cubs manager Craig Counsell said he anticipated giving Tucker the day off for Wednesday’s series finale against the Braves. After that two-day period of rest and treatment, the Cubs will see how Tucker feels heading into the upcoming weekend set against the Nationals.
“We wanted to be cautious at this point,” Counsell said.
Before being pulled from the game, Tucker collected a pair of hits to help spur Chicago’s offense. With his showing on the night, Tucker has now turned in a .400/.489/.800 slash line with four homers, four doubles and 11 RBIs over his last 11 games for the Cubs.
The recent 11-game uptick in production for Tucker comes after he had a 40-game stretch in which he hit .186/.320/.236 with just one home run in 172 plate appearances. Within that period -- one that dropped his season OPS from .933 to .815 -- it was revealed that the outfielder sustained a (since healed) hairline fracture in his right hand in early June.
Counsell also gave Tucker a two-day mental reset from Aug. 19-20, hoping to help the outfielder turn a corner. The outfielder’s OPS has since climbed to .853 to go along with 51 extra-base hits, 73 RBIs, as many walks (86) as strikeouts (86) and 25 stolen bases in 133 games overall.
“It’s hard. He’s such a great hitter,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told reporters on Monday. “He’s one of the best hitters in the game. When you watch a guy like that struggle for so long, you forget what it’s like. My hope is that he gets really hot here and carries over what he did at the end of that road trip.”
In the third inning, rookie Kevin Alcántara and Nico Hoerner reached via consecutive singles, setting Tucker up for his go-ahead shot. He sent a 2-2 fastball from lefty Joey Wentz to left for his 22nd homer of the season. It marked Tucker’s first home run at Wrigley Field since July 19 and his first blast to the opposite field since May 21, 2024 (when he was with the Astros).
Tucker’s home run sparked a four-run frame that backed a quality start from Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga, who limited Atlanta to three runs over six innings. Tucker added a pulled single to right field in the fifth inning before his departure.
“I liked that one swing, particularly. That was a good one,” Counsell said of Tucker’s home run. “It’s great to [see]. We put a ball in the seats and we put three runs on the board in one swing. That’s a big deal, for sure. That was a great swing. Hit it really well. Big swing, obviously, on a night where not much else happened offensively.”