CHICAGO – At one point, Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong looked like interesting candidates in this year’s National League MVP race. The two All-Star outfielders may overlap for only one season at Wrigley Field, which should have added another sense of urgency for the Chicago Cubs, both in the last free-agent market and at this summer’s trade deadline. Once those dynamic players cooled off and started to slump, the club looked stagnant.
In the playoffs, everything starts over at zero. Chicago’s chances of qualifying for the postseason are currently hovering around 99.9 percent, according to the online projection systems. The Cubs already built a resourceful pitching staff that has outperformed expectations with the help of an elite defensive unit.
Looking ahead, Tucker and Crow-Armstrong possess the rare talents that can change games in October and swing playoff series. The checklist for the rest of September includes making sure they are in strong physical condition and the right frame of mind — for Cubs manager Craig Counsell, that will involve some intuition.
While Crow-Armstrong’s mental reset on the bench has ended, Tucker remains sidelined with left calf tightness, and appears to be trending toward a stay on the 10-day injured list.
“Kyle’s not playing today,” Counsell said before Friday afternoon’s 11-5 win over the Washington Nationals. “He’s improved, for sure, and we’d like to give him the day to just move around. Really, we want to get him symptom-free. Wednesday was a good day, in terms of how he came into the park.
“He was very encouraged, and we were encouraged that if he had to absolutely play on Wednesday, he probably could have. But we’re going to give him a day to do a little more running around and just see where we’re at. But I’m pretty optimistic that we should get him in the lineup by the weekend.”
During Friday’s postgame media briefing, Counsell sounded less optimistic, saying Tucker’s day “wasn’t as positive as we had hoped, frankly. He didn’t really make progress.”
Tucker had exited Tuesday night’s 4-3 win over the Atlanta Braves after hitting a three-run homer, continuing his hot streak following the mental reset/three-game benching that Counsell implemented in late August. The stakes are enormously high for Tucker, who’s positioned to become the No. 1 player in the upcoming class of free agents.
Getting out of that spiral might have been harder since Tucker jammed his right ring finger on a headfirst slide at the beginning of June. He was eventually diagnosed with a hairline fracture in his right hand, but he kept playing because the healing process had already begun and he could tolerate the issue.
Given recent history, as well as the club’s overwhelming playoff odds, Counsell still deferred when asked if there’s an argument to be made for shutting down Tucker, backdating the roster move and putting him on the 10-day injured list.
“No, not right now,” Counsell said. “There’s not a reason to do it today.”
That thinking could also change tomorrow.
“We’ve got to take the information in front of us and make the best decision we can,” Counsell said. “With all these decisions, you’re not going to be perfect on ‘em. You get all the information you can get, and you make a good decision. Today we thought the best thing was for him to spend more time in a controlled environment and not put him in a game, which is a little less controlled.
“We can do that by DH-ing him. There’s less exposure with the DH than playing in the field. So you take all those things into consideration. Every time a player plays, there’s some risk, right?”
How Counsell handled the previous Tucker situation was instructive. After promoting center fielder Kevin Alcántara from Triple-A Iowa, the Cubs kept Crow-Armstrong out of the starting lineups on Tuesday and Wednesday, hoping some downtime would make him feel refreshed.
“I don’t have data behind it,” Counsell said. “It is one of those things where it is a gut feel, a gut decision, for sure. There’s data in front of it that’s suggesting maybe it’s time to do it. You’re just looking at the person and the player. You’re talking to coaches and people down here. It’s what the player needs. What’s best for the player?
“Look, you’re often doing it at maybe a lower point for the player, so you’re likely to improve. But in my experience, it’s been helpful for players.”
In taking a small step forward, Crow-Armstrong contributed two singles, two sacrifice flies and a stolen base in Friday’s victory (which also saw the Gold Glove-caliber defender lose a flyball in the sun above Wrigley Field).
Crow-Armstrong already has 28 home runs during his breakthrough season, but just one over the past six weeks. His August numbers (.160 batting average, .446 OPS) were disappointing. He understood why the manager wanted him to sit back and watch.
“The break was good,” Crow-Armstrong said. “It was smart and calculated. I just came in feeling good, ready to do the same grind I’ve been doing. But it’s just a good chance to slow down a little bit.”
(Photo: Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images)