CHICAGO – Kyle Tucker addressed the hairline fracture in his right hand on Thursday, an injury he suffered after a headfirst slide into second base in the first inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds on June 1.
“After the injury or whatever, it just kind of started hurting and I came out,” Tucker said. “I thought I just jammed it, it was kind of swollen. We did some X-rays, and at the time, it was still kind of bothering me — I don’t know the timeframe after that. We did some more (X-rays) and saw a little small fracture in there. It was already a week or two after that and it was already healing. I just kept playing through it and thought at some point it would go away. It kind of stuck around for a little bit. But I was playing well, hitting the ball and everything.”
Tucker initially stayed in that game against the Reds, but was replaced by Vidal Bruján in the fifth inning. The Cubs had a day off the following day and Tucker wasn’t in the starting lineup for the next two games, but pinch hit in the ninth inning of the second of those two games. June was one of his most productive months offensively as he delivered a 173 wRC+ with 14 extra-base hits.
But in July, Tucker managed just four extra-base hits (just one home run) and hit .218. His 20.6 percent walk rate kept him productive and helped him earn a .380 on-base percentage, but it was clear he wasn’t right. By August, he was clearly ineffective, posting a 16 wRC+ in 15 games entering play on Thursday.
It all culminated in an 0-for-4 showing on Monday with three weak groundouts during which Tucker was booed by his home fans multiple times. Manager Craig Counsell decided to sit Tucker over the next three games before inserting him back in the starting lineup on Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Kyle Tucker returns to the Cubs lineup!
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) August 21, 2025
Is the hand injury something he’s still dealing with?
“I’m pretty much past it,” Tucker said. “It’s fine. I’ve been playing the whole time anyways and I’m feeling good. I’m all right.”
Until a report by ESPN that came out late Wednesday night, neither Tucker nor the team acknowledged there was a fracture in Tucker’s hand. Would it have been easier if Tucker had just said he was playing through this once he learned of the issue?
“I’m sure we could have gone a couple different ways,” Tucker said. “I felt good enough to go out there and play and confident that I could go out there and do it well.”
Maybe a stint on the injured list would have allowed him to avoid these deep struggles?
“I was already playing through it for however long and playing fine,” Tucker said. “So I was just like, ‘I’m going to keep playing.’ There wasn’t a need to go on the IL because I could still do everything. It was just a pain tolerance at that point rather than I couldn’t physically do it.”
One theory that has been floated is that Tucker altered his mechanics to play through the pain. While he was able to thrive early, eventually the changes led to these struggles. For Tucker, there’s no way of really knowing if that’s the case.
“I didn’t try and change my mechanics or anything,” Tucker said. “But it could have gradually happened over time, I don’t know. I was just playing with it and I was doing fine for a while. After a while it kind of turned. I don’t know if that was the reason why, but it’s how things played out.”
Despite a rough stretch of play, Tucker still has a strong 131 wRC+ and, according to FanGraphs, has reached 4 WAR for the fifth straight season. Tucker is expected to be the most sought-after position player on the market when he hits free agency this winter.
(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)