Kyle Tucker’s Cubs season falling apart — and fans are turning on him
Everything seemed to be going so well for Kyle Tucker and the Cubs, who were leading the NL Central at the All-Star break after taking a gamble and trading for the All-Star outfielder before the final year of his contract as a major payday looms this winter in free agency.
But the Friendly Confines aren’t so friendly these days, as the 28-year-old outfielder was booed during the sixth inning of Sunday’s game against the Pirates for not running out a ground ball to first.
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While the Cubs (70-53) came back to win, they find themselves eight games behind the MLB-best Brewers, who finally lost a game to the Reds Sunday in extra innings, snapping a 14-game winning streak.
Chicago falling so far behind Milwaukee has coincided with a brutal slump for Tucker, who has gone 23 games without a home run. During that stretch, he’s hit .179 with a .545 OPS and five RBIs. The Cubs went 10-13 in those 23 games.
For the season, Tucker is hitting .263 with an .828 OPS, 18 homers and 62 RBIs.
“Normally, I don’t really show much emotion out there or anything. I just try to do my job,” Tucker said Sunday, per The Athletic. “But it’s been tough over the last two months or so. Just got to keep going.”
Cubs manager Craig Counsell, in his second season with the team after leaving the Brewers, shared what he’s been seeing from Tucker lately.
“You miss pitches that you hit generally, and it makes you ask: ‘Why am I missing those pitches?’” Counsell said. “That’s it. Because the plate discipline has been really strong still. But when you miss those pitches that you normally hit hard, hit far, you ask yourself: ‘Why?’ And I think that’s what he’s going through.”
While the Cubs aren’t in any imminent danger of missing the playoffs — they currently own the first NL wild-card spot and are six games ahead of the Reds — their chance at a bye into the NLDS are slipping away.
They do, however, host the Brewers for five games at Wrigley beginning with a doubleheader Monday.
Perhaps a Trea Turner-style standing ovation will get Tucker going again.
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