Saturday, September 27

Welcome back to the Cubs Beat newsletter. Jordan Bastian has covered baseball for MLB.com since 2005, including the Cubs since the 2019 season. 

CHICAGO -- When the Cubs’ offense was functioning as arguably the best unit in baseball over the first two months of the season, Kyle Tucker’s impact and influence was undeniable. He featured power plus speed, while showcasing a stubborn approach to plate discipline that had a trickle-down effect on the lineup.

Even when Tucker slipped into an offensive slump early in the second half, he still got on base at a respectable clip. That presence has been missing for the bulk of September as he has dealt with a left calf strain while on the 10-day injured list. The goal is to get Tucker back in a game by Friday as part of a short ramp to the Cubs’ upcoming National League Wild Card Series.

The Cubs know Tucker’s impact begins with simply being in a lineup.

“There’s value in that in itself whether he was struggling or not,” Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly said prior to Wednesday’s game at Wrigley Field. “His at-bats and his presence in the lineup, one, puts everybody really where they’re supposed to be in the lineup.

“And it just gives us another left-handed power bat that forces teams to have to make a bullpen decision that third time through the lineup. His name goes into the equation of whether they go get that arm out of the bullpen, or if they let that starter go that extra two or three hitters.”

The current plan, as Cubs manager Craig Counsell detailed on Wednesday, calls for Tucker to come off the IL and return as a designated hitter on Friday, barring anything unexpected. He may not be at full speed when it comes to running, but Chicago wants to get him some plate appearances and game action before the postseason.

Kelly said Tucker has the potential to find his rhythm at the plate quickly, given the outfielder’s simple routine behind the scenes and that elite plate discipline. Tucker also has a recent example of returning successfully without a rehab assignment. A year ago, he came back after a three-month hiatus due to a right shin fracture and hit .365 with a 1.041 OPS in 18 September games for the Astros ahead of the playoffs.

“He’s proven that he can do it,” Kelly said. “But probably the more important part is just the simplicity of his swing, one, and then the routine. He doesn’t need a lot to get going. And then just the pitch selection. I don’t think you lose that. I think sometimes you lose some feel of the swing and you lose some feel of your moves a little bit, but I think the way that he’s been able to control the zone throughout his whole career -- especially the last two years -- just the quality of the at-bat and the pitch selection, I think, is still going to be there.

“He prepares really well. He understands pitch shapes and movements. I think he’s going to get back in there and give you a really good quality at-bat, so there’s not a ton of concern like maybe there would be for some other guys.”

There is also the fact that Tucker was in a groove prior to landing on the IL.

On Sept. 2, when the calf injury forced Tucker to exit early, he was 2-for-3 with a home run. That gave him a .327/.422/.618 slash line with four homers, four doubles and eight walks in a 15-game span before being sidelined. And while on the IL, Tucker has been able to continue hitting regularly in an effort to stay in rhythm.

“Guys are so in tune with how their body feels,” Kelly said, “and how their body is moving to the pitch and the shape, and what their eyes are telling them. I think guys remember that. They remember that feeling. They remember that movement in the box. So, for him having some success – getting hurt was unfortunate – but you can kind of go back into the Rolodex a little bit and be like, ‘OK, this is what I was feeling.’ He didn’t lose it. He just hasn’t done it.”

With four games left in the season, second baseman Nico Hoerner still has a chance to chase down the first batting crown in two decades for a Cubs hitter.

“It feels like he’s just getting hits nonstop,” Counsell said recently.

Hoerner has hit .368 (32-for-87) in September, lifting his average to .301 on the season. That trails only Phillies shortstop Trea Turner, who landed on the IL on Sept. 8, but has held steady atop the leaderboard with a .305 mark.

In the Modern Era (since 1900), the only Cubs hitters to win a batting title have been Derrek Lee (2005), Bill Buckner (1980), Bill Madlock (1975-76), Billy Williams (1972), Phil Cavarretta (1945) and Heinie Zimmerman (1912).

The Cubs have six players (Michael Busch, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Dansby Swanson and Kyle Tucker) who have hit at least 20 home runs this season. What is the franchise record?

A) Six players

B) Seven players

C) Eight players

D) Nine players

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“I wish I could watch more, honestly, because there’s some pretty exciting baseball. I think we’re included in that, but there’s some pretty exciting things happening around the league. This is a great week for a baseball fan -- it really is. With three weeks in the schedule maybe left, you’re like, ‘I don’t know how this is going to end.’ And now you’re like, ‘Wow.’ There’s a lot of teams involved. There’s a lot of just in-or-out to be determined.” -- Counsell, on the playoff races around MLB

A) Six players

That’s right, this Cubs team has equaled a single-season club record for the most players with at least 20 homers in a season. It was also achieved by the North Siders in 2017, 2019 and 2023. The previous record of five was set in 1958 (Ernie Banks, Dale Long, Walt Moryn, Bobby Thomson and Lee Walls) and matched in 2004 and 2008 before the '17 Cubs upped the ante.

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