Kyle Tucker put his slump to rest with a monster series against the Angels

The Chicago Cubs delivered a series sweep against the Los Angeles Angels, thanks in part to the offensive heroics of Kyle Tucker.

Tucker had been in the midst of a career-worst slump for the previous seven weeks before the series in Anaheim. Over the 39-game stretch, where it was revealed that Tucker was dealing with a hairline fracture in his finger, the 28-year-old slashed .184/.321/.228 with just one home run and 10 RBI.

But Tucker broke through the slump against the Angels' pitching staff, smacking three home runs, five hits, and seven runs batted in during the three-game sweep. The explosive performance featured a two-homer game in Saturday's 12-1 blowout, which was Tucker's first multi-homer game in a Cubs uniform.

Is Kyle Tucker back to himself? The Cubs sure hope so.

The Cubs have been insistent that Tucker's finger injury hasn't been an issue. The injury was sustained when the former Astro slid into second base on June 1. Although he slumped for much of July and August, Tucker enjoyed a very productive month of June immediately after the injury. Tucker smashed five homers and batted .311 in June this year, making his injury a frustrating head-scratcher.

But the subsequent poor performance led to Manager Craig Counsell benching his superstar for much of the series against the Milwaukee Brewers last week. Hopefully, the time off gave Tucker time to reflect on his season and make adjustments to his approach at the plate. Something clicked over the weekend, and Tucker showed that he can still be that game-changing presence in Chicago's lineup that helped them turn heads in the first half of the season.

The Cubs have just over a month to secure their first playoff spot since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Tucker could be getting his power stroke back at the perfect time to give the offense a much-needed boost as the team attempts to dethrone the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central.