Chicago Cubs: Bad news on Kyle Tucker, Cubs must prep for playoff life without star

“Not much progress, frankly,” Counsell told media prior to Monday’s game in Pittsburgh. “We’ll see if we can move forward. If not, we’ll just be kind of status quo until we can have some improvement on the symptoms.”

Tucker, himself, seems to have no answers when it comes to his possible return, beyond the obligatory vow to keep working hard and smart until he gets fully healthy again.

“It’s not really where I want it to be, which isn’t ideal, but I’m just trying to get back to feeling at least as close to game-ready as possible to get out there,” Tucker told reporters on Monday. “All I want to do is just play baseball. So whatever I can do to try and get back to that, I’m trying to do, but it hasn’t gone as quickly as I would have hoped.”

Playoff concerns

Losing a star player and an offensive linchpin will always be a problem. Losing one about two weeks before the playoffs is potentially disastrous.

It doesn’t take a baseball analytics savant to understand just how crucial the 28-year-old is to the Cubs’ offense. When running on all cylinders, Tucker anchored the middle of the team’s lineup and helped facilitate the success of all those around him. With Tucker gone– or in the deep recesses of his recent career-worst slump from July 1 to around the middle of August– Chicago is simply not the same team.

All of this makes for great concern as the Cubs head towards their first postseason run since the abbreviated 2020 season.

Two weeks is normally a good amount of time to deal with a calf strain, especially after two weeks of recovery already. But this injury was supposed to be a minor one and it was treated as such, as the Cubs kicked the can on an IL stint in favor of day-to-day status and an eye on a quick return.

Tucker still being unable to play leads one to believe that the strain is significantly more serious than the team has let on.

Doubting the word of the Chicago Cubs

This wouldn’t be the first time Chicago withheld information on a Tucker injury. As recently as June, the Cubs kept quiet about Tucker suffering a hairline fracture in his hand– an issue that may have led to a mechanical hiccup that brought about his extended slump. Counsell and the Cubs came forward with the truth regarding Tucker’s injury more than two months later, only after a report on the hushed-up fracture surfaced on ESPN.

So, obviously, there isn’t a whole lot of faith in the Cubs’ word regarding this latest Tucker setback.

Meanwhile, the Cubs have to be developing a plan B for the opening round of the playoffs if Tucker can’t play.

Seiya Suzuki, who’s been flat-lining offensively since the All-Star break, will probably move from DH to right field. Rookie Moises Ballesteros and Justin Turner might share time at DH, although there could be other options with that lineup spot.

Any way you slice it, though, any backup to Tucker would be a tremendous all-around downgrade.

Then, of course, Tucker, who cost the Cubs a small fortune in their offseason trade with the Houston Astros, is likely to pack his things and move on to another team when the free agent offers start flying after the World Series.

But that’s an issue for another day.

For now, the Cubs would like at least one more month from their star.