Kyle Tucker comments from Dodgers coach tells a truth Cubs fans know all too well

Kyle Tucker's Chicago Cubs tenure didn't end how anyone had hoped. Although Craig Counsell's club returned to the playoffs in 2025 and won its first postseason series since 2017, the pricey rental trade acquisition left a lot to be desired with a quieter second half, clouded by frustration, injuries, and one particularly gruelling 40-game stretch in which he hit .186/.320/.236 and was benched. Fans were expecting to fall in love with the idea of a superstar at Wrigley again, but instead, most were content to move on and let someone else pay the exorbitant cost for his services.

That team, unsurprisingly, was the Los Angeles Dodgers. They were always the perfect, if very annoying, suitor on paper, between their unparalleled willingness to spend and their lineup already dotted with some of the league's best players whom Tucker could blend in with. However, despite getting a fresh start in a seemingly perfect spot, the right fielder has yet to turn the page on last year's late-season woes as the Cubs come into town. He's only slashing .233/.320/.356 on the season with a 94 wRC+ and three home runs.

For fans on the North Side, the nature of his struggles sounds all too familiar. Recently, Dodgers hitting coach Aaron Bates shared his thoughts with The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya about Tucker's difficulty settling in with the team so far. He sees it as a mental issue and a result of pressing a bit too hard, perhaps with the added pressure of being part of baseball's best team and being on a massive $240 million contract.

In some ways, this current phase reflects how Tucker looked at his lowest in Chicago. He drew Cubs fans' ire with what looked like a lack of effort on the field, but that can be attributed to his more even-keeled manner of play. Rather, when looking closer, he had the appearance of a player pressing to be the offensive force he was in the first half. There were real questions about whether the hairline fracture in his thumb had fully healed and whether he was still reworking his mechanics. His usual demeanor even gave way to visual frustration in August before Counsell finally gave him a mental break.

Similar on-field issues to his second-half downturn have followed this slow start in Los Angeles, too, like an elevated 41.8% groundball rate and a 23.3% strikeout rate that would be the highest he's ever had in a full season. Pushing too hard is bad for any player, but Tucker showed in Chicago that, when the pressure and general disappointment build, he can sometimes get away from what makes him a good baseball player.

There's still no real reason to believe Tucker won't figure it out. The Dodgers, despite his scuffling, have a top-three record in the National League at 17-8 as they welcome the Cubs to town. Such a deep roster allows time for the outfielder to get right without fear of tanking a team's fortunes. After back-to-back World Series wins, the regular season is more of a formality for Los Angeles. Being ready to post in October is all that matters.

The Kyle Tucker break-up turned out fine for the Cubs

Even though the dream of Tucker balling out and settling in as the king of Wrigley didn't pan out, the Cubs still made the most of this offseason to reinforce their contender status. They broke with franchise precedent and paid up for another former Astro in Alex Bregman, who has started to turn his own slow start around and is now up to a 105 wRC+. The offense as a whole has gotten rolling, too, scoring seven or more runs in seven of their last ten games to help win nine in a row. That's with two of their biggest potential engines, Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong, opening the season on brutal stretches.

Chances are, by the end of all of this, the Cubs and Dodgers will both be content with how the Tucker sweepstakes ultimately ended. The right fielder's track record is still too good to expect this stretch to be more than a blip.

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