Kyle Tucker's odd defense of Dodgers' struggles ignores miserable Cubs run

Since the calendar flipped to July, Kyle Tucker has flashed signs of breaking out of the offensive slump he's been in since the second-half of the 2025 season with the Chicago Cubs. Tucker has eight hits in his last 27 plate apperances, posting a 177 wRC+ and slugging percentage of .429.

Tucker has started to look like the player he was at the start of the 2025 season, but that does nothing for how he's viewed by Cubs fans. Tucker's run in Chicago ended on such a sour note that it's hard to look back on his overall season fondly.

Tucker was very good at the start of last year, but between awkward injury management and the impression he was distancing himself from the team by the end, the heel turn was complete. The eye-rolling emoji will be used whenever Tucker is mentioned, especially when he's ignoring how his season ended with the Cubs.

Kyle Tucker casually forgets the awful way his Cubs' tenure ended

Talking with ESPN's Alden Gonzalez last week, Tucker casually mentioned that he normally doesn't hit .220 for 80 games. That's all fine to say, and a player should have confidence, but Tucker is ignoring how awful he looked during the last three months of the 2025 season.

In his last 227 plate appearances with the Cubs during the regular season, Tucker slashed .225/.348/.342. His ability to draw walks was the only thing keeping his wRC+ above 100, especially since he only hade five home runs during that stretch.

In fact, most of Gonzalez's piece is confirmation of just how far things went off the rails with the Cubs in 2025. Gonzalez cites sources in describing Tucker being "reserved" during his first few months in LA, suggesting that he prefers to work by himself and may not be open to much feedback.

That's more or less what happened with Tucker in Chicago. Even as Tucker was struggling offensively, it seemed that the Cubs didn't exactly have a clear plan for getting him right. As for the injuries, Tucker left the Cubs in September to seek treatment from his own personal trainer in Florida. There's certainly been more egregious offenses in the history of baseball, but it was a reminder of that Tucker may just be out for himself.

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