Kyle Tucker injury report leaves Cubs fans saying “we told you so”

The Chicago Cubs defeated the Milwaukee Brewers last night by a score of 4-3, with Daniel Palencia flirting with danger for his 18th save of the season. The win marked the first time the Brewers dropped three consecutive games since May 7-10, and brought their divisional lead down to six games as the Cubs now hold the season series and potential tiebreaker.

However, the biggest headline of the night came on social media, with ESPN’s Jesse Rogers shedding new light on Kyle Tucker’s injury, as the slugger was held out of the lineup for a third consecutive game.

According to Rogers, Tucker injured his finger sliding into second base on June 1. While initial X-rays showed only a jammed finger, further tests revealed Tucker sustained a hairline fracture at the top of his right hand. Facing an IL stint, Tucker continued to play through the injury, with Rogers noting that the decision came directly from the 28-year-old outfielder.

Kyle Tucker injury fallout proves Cubs fans might’ve been right all along

Initially, the decision worked in his favor, as Tucker hit five home runs and drove in 13 with an OPS of .982 in June, arguably his best month as a Cub. Since then, however, Tucker’s production has seen a steady decline, with the slugger potentially picking up some bad habits as he played through the injury.

“He probably changed his mechanics a bit while fighting through it,” Cubs president Jed Hoyer said on 670 The Score Monday morning. “And I think that probably is a big part of it. I mean, he is a little bit different mechanically than he was at the beginning of the year, and that’s what he’s working hard to get back to."

Since July 1, Tucker has only produced four total extra-base hits, with his lone home run coming on July 19. Ground balls have become increasingly common for the outfielder, with his ground ball rate rising to 52.5 percent in August.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell initially decided to take Tucker out of the starting lineup for the time being, starting on Tuesday, with Counsell confirming Rogers’ report after Wednesday’s game. 

“He injured his hand in a slide. Initial X-rays were negative,” Counsell said. “Sat out a day, pinch hit, and the next day, he was kind of sore but good to go. He was sore for a little while with [that] but was able to play. We did some more imaging, and it showed a small fracture that was healing."

“Is it possible that playing through it changed some things? Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s probably likely that at some point, that happened. But he wanted to play.”

Counsell confirmed Tucker’s hand had fully healed and was no longer presenting a problem, but the damage had already been inflicted. In waiting a month and a half to address the issue, the Cubs’ unwillingness to see the painfully obvious may have cost them the division, as they now find themselves on the wrong side of the chase against the Brewers.

Counsell did not provide a timetable for the outfielder, saying they will continue to monitor the free agent to be.

"At the start of this for me, it was going to be two days," Counsell said. "We'll go from there."

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