{"id":85450,"date":"2025-08-21T05:24:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T05:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/85450\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T05:24:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T05:24:08","slug":"cubs-kyle-tucker-diagnosed-in-june-with-fracture-in-hand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/85450\/","title":{"rendered":"Cubs’ Kyle Tucker diagnosed in June with fracture in hand"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Jesse RogersAug 20, 2025, 09:54 PM ET<\/p>\n

Close<\/a>Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.<\/p>\n

CHICAGO — Cubs<\/a> right fielder Kyle Tucker<\/a>, who has been given several days off this week for a reset amid his struggles at the plate, was diagnosed in June with a hairline fracture in his right hand, manager Craig Counsell confirmed Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

Counsell said Tucker’s injury is fully healed.<\/p>\n

“He was sore for a little while but was able to play,” Counsell said after the Cubs’ 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a>. “He had some more imaging, and it showed a small fracture that was healing.”<\/p>\n

Despite the diagnosis, Tucker, 28, wanted to keep playing for the then-first-place Cubs, choosing against an IL stint as he compiled a .982 OPS that month. But his numbers have tanked since the beginning of July.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Picks<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

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Tucker was injured while sliding into second base against the Cincinnati Reds<\/a> on June 1. X-rays on his right finger were initially negative — the team indicated it was a jammed finger — but further imaging showed a slight fracture on the top of his hand, near where the pinkie and ring finger meet. More tests in mid-June showed the injury was healing, but it was still affecting Tucker, who might have begun favoring his hand by then, leading to poor mechanics.<\/p>\n

“There’s no question that when you look at his numbers, it’s had an impact on him, for sure,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said recently. “That’s the nature sometimes of these small injuries. They can do that.”<\/p>\n

Tucker is hitting .189 with only four extra-base hits since July, and his ground ball rate this month is an alarmingly high 54%. After going 0-for-4 on Monday, Counsell said Tucker will get a few days off, though he was expected back in the lineup during the team’s upcoming West Coast trip.<\/p>\n

Brewers manager Pat Murphy even addressed the situation, saying during an appearance on the Cubs’ flagship radio station Tuesday: “I think Tucker’s hurt. I don’t have any information, but Tucker’s not the same.”<\/p>\n

Tucker has been asked repeatedly about the finger, choosing not to use it as an excuse.<\/p>\n

“I’m fine,” Tucker said Tuesday. “I’ve played, for the most part, every game this year. I’m fine going out there.”<\/p>\n

Tucker started the season fast, compiling an OPS of .931 with 20 stolen bases over the first three months. He was selected for his fourth All-Star Game, starting the Midsummer Classic for the first time in his eight-year career.<\/p>\n

But hand injuries can be tricky, leading to games missed or swing issues. Tucker’s former teammate in Houston, Yordan Alvarez<\/a>, has been out since early May because of a small fracture in his hand.<\/p>\n

Tucker played for more than two months with one. He has been healthy for the majority of his career but sat out time last season because of a shin fracture. He is set to become a free agent at season’s end. The Cubs are hoping the time off this week will help get him right for the stretch run.<\/p>\n

“At the start of this for me, it was going to be two days [off],” Counsell said Wednesday afternoon. “We’ll go from there.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jesse RogersAug 20, 2025, 09:54 PM ET CloseJesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-85450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}