Cubs nightmare grows as Craig Counsell admits Kyle Tucker is broken

Tuesday marked the first day in which the Chicago Cubs went about their reset of Kyle Tucker. Tucker has been in a slump since the start of July, and Craig Counsell finally resorted to a measure every Cubs fan knew was on the table: giving Tucker some days off. Tucker is expected to be out of the Cubs' starting lineup over the next few days, and Counsell further explained the decision on Tuesday.

"Just some time off to kind of get him away from the thoughts he’s having and maybe create new thoughts."

Craig Counsell just revealed how bad Kyle Tucker’s slump really is

For a pairing that began at such a high note with the Cubs being one of the best teams in the National League, and Tucker making an early case to be the National League MVP, everything has come crashing down since the veteran outfielder began slumping last month. Now, a sense of awkwardness and disappointment lingers over everything taking place between the Cubs and Tucker.

What has made things even more unnerving is the fact that there appears to be some injury mismanagement taking place. Earlier this week, Jed Hoyer admitted that Tucker was playing through a thumb injury earlier this season and developed some poor swing habits as a result. That begs the question of why the Cubs didn't place Tucker on the IL last month, giving him time to rehab his thumb injury without risking changes to his swing.

Now, it seems that the Cubs have a much larger problem on their hand. Tucker was physically broken as a result of playing injured, and now he appears to be mentally broken. Meanwhile, the Cubs are quickly falling in the standings with each passing loss.

Counsell, making $8MM per season, is at a loss for words when trying to explain what is going on for Tucker, and when it comes to basic stuff like the All-Star not running out a ground ball, the Cubs' manager is forced to use mental gymnastics to try and explain it. This latest Cubbies occurrence certainly will be remembered if the season can get back on track.

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