Chicago Cubs: Bad news on Kyle Tucker has some questioning the Cubs’ offseason gamble

The latest news on the four-time All-Star is bad. It appears as though he won’t be activated and ready to play after his 10-day IL stint after all. He was originally expected back and recovered from his calf strain this coming Tuesday, September 16.

“I would say Tuesday is unlikely right now,” manager Craig Counsell told media on Friday.

“He is doing activity,” Counsell said. “The symptomatic stuff is the running right now. We’re on a bike, we’re hitting still, throwing. We’re hoping to have a weekend of no symptoms of doing that and that’ll lead us back onto the field and the running. And go from there.”

The Cubs had initially hesitated on placing Tucker on the IL, hoping that the discomfort he felt, starting on September 2, would resolve after some time on the bench. As the days piled up and he wasn’t getting better, though, the team finally bit the bullet and placed him on the 10-day IL, retroactive to Saturday, September 6.

And now, apparently, this injury is a bigger deal than anyone has been told.

Did the Chicago Cubs drop the ball again?

This stall comes just 11 days after Tucker seemed to have closed the door on a career-worst slump brought on by a hand injury that seemed to have messed with his batting mechanics.

To make matters more frustrating, this latest Tucker injury issue comes right after the earlier one and it appears that both have roots in the Cubs not pulling the trigger quickly enough on an IL decision.

When the story broke in late August of Tucker having suffered an early-June hairline fracture in his hand, critics blasted the team for allowing their star asset to play injured for over two months, languishing at the plate most of the way. This time around, it looks like they, again, took too long to definitively put Tucker on the shelf.

This latest failure to act, however, comes dangerously close to the playoffs, where Tucker’s presence will be absolutely essential.

The linchpin to success

Throughout the first few months of this season, Tucker did appear to be the linchpin the team had wanted/needed. With his steady excellence on the field, everyone else around him looked better. The team was an offensive dynamo and built up so many early wins that they were all but a lock to make the postseason by the All-Star break.

The Cubs haven’t been nearly as successful with Tucker slumping and sitting out games.

This latest news of a setback in Tucker’s recovery is now making the Cubs’ decision to trade for him look like a losing gamble. His lack of output in the second half of the season is one issue, but the bigger issue centers around his health for the playoffs. Then, of course, he may just pack up and leave for another team, anyway, after this season.

For now, the Cubs and their fans will just have to cross their fingers and hope for the best when it comes to Kyle Tucker.