Boy oh boy am I getting worried about Kyle Tucker after the latest update surrounding his seemingly nagging calf strain. The Chicago Cubs have been without the All-Star right fielder since Sept. 2, and after not returning a few days ago when he was eligible to come off the injured list Tucker is now in Florida meeting with a specialist.
Nope, don't like that whatsoever because as Tucker continues to miss more time the likelihood of him returning in time for the playoffs continue to decline.
Via The Athletic.
Tucker is scheduled to meet with Jeremy Maddox, a Tampa-based physical therapist who is also a consultant for the New York Yankees, according to his online bio. Tucker, who grew up in Tampa, has previously worked with this group as part of his offseason program, and after fracturing his right shin last year while playing for the Houston Astros.
Tucker is expected to rejoin the team next week at Wrigley Field, though his return to the lineup remains uncertain.
“We’re aligned with Kyle,” Counsell said. “This is the best way for him to make some improvements. Unfortunately, we plateaued, and we weren’t making progress. That’s frustrating for Kyle. That’s the concern about getting him back soon.”
The Cubs will begin their Wild Card series on Sept. 30. That leaves Tucker about a week worth of games if he does indeed return to the lineup following this four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds. Fans are waiting for some good news, but right now it doesn't look great.
Of course, you don't want Tucker coming back too early, so I guess we'll see how the calf feels after this weekend. Fingers crossed!
(Previous Update)
Sooooo, we already knew that Kyle Tucker would not be back from the injured list on Tuesday, when he was eligible to be activated, but now I'm getting a little more worried about him. I definitely don't want the Cubs rushing him back, but then you also get into the situation where you worry if he'll be any good after missing so much time and then he has to face playoff-caliber pitching while he's still rusty.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell provided another update on Tucker on Monday before the team's series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tucker still is not running smoothly. The Cubs can't really move forward until the outfielder is moving around without any issues.
Via Meghan Montemurro.
Kyle Tucker (calf strain) ran pregame today but “not much progress frankly,” Counsell said. He’s deemed day-to-day & unclear when he’ll be ready to come off IL. Counsell: “We'll see if we can move forward. If not we'll just be kind of status quo until we can have some improvement on the symptoms.”
Not hitting the panic button just yet, but yeah feeling a little nervous. This calf strain started out as a day-to-day thing and now Tucker will be out for what seems to be close to three weeks. The regular season ends on Sept. 28.
(Previous Update)
Hey, remember when the Cubs didn't place Kyle Tucker on the injured list after he missed an entire series, then finally did it, so it meant he was going to miss more time than if they had just placed him on the IL right away? Well, it turns out that maybe Tucker was going to miss a lot more time anyway.
The Cubs officially put Tucker on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Sept. 6, on Tuesday, ahead of the team's second game against the Atlanta Braves. With the retroactive date Tucker would be eligible to return to the active roster by next Tuesday, Sept. 16, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, it doesn't sound like Tucker will be back any time soon and at this point it's probably best not to rush the All-Star outfielder back.
Via Elise Menaker.
Kyle Tucker has been doing activity (biking, hitting, throwing). He feels symptoms when running, so Counsell said they want a weekend of no symptoms before he gets back into running. It is unlikely he'll be activated Tuesday.
Tucker was on fire prior to this stint on the injured list. The left-handed hitter was 16-for-40, with four home runs and four doubles in his last 11 games before leaving in the seventh inning of Chicago's Sept. 2, game at Wrigley Field against the Braves.
In 2024, Tucker missed three months because of a fracture in his right shin that resulted from a foul ball. He returned in early September and proceeded to end the year a 1.041 OPS in 18 games.
The Cubs end the regular season on Sept. 28. So, let's say Tucker misses next week's series in Pittsburgh, the optimistic timeline for his return could be on Friday Sept. 19, against the Cincinnati Reds, giving Tucker 10 games to get back into rhythm before the playoffs begin.
