Kyle Tucker began his first season with the Chicago Cubs on a tear, hitting over .300 with an OPS of over 1.000 through about a month. Since then, though, he's cooled off quite a bit: Over his last 13 games entering play on Tuesday, the outfielder was slashing a measly .163/.293/.327 with just one homer and four extra-base hits.
This week, though, has brought some much-needed signs of life. Tucker put together a three-hit performance against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday, including a home run. He followed that up with another long ball on Wednesday afternoon.
This recent binge shouldn't come as a surprise, though: Tucker hinted after Tuesday's win that he was about to get on another hot streak.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.
Cubs will run away with NL Central if Kyle Tucker gets hot
"I feel a little bit better," Tucker said after his three-hit attack on Tuesday. "I started to feel a little bit better, probably, my second at-bat yesterday, just to get a feeling in the box and I felt like I could work with and I’m kinda searching for that for a little bit."
Tucker is one of the best hitters in baseball, and that's not really a debatable topic at this point. He has the ability to hit for power and average while also drawing walks with the best of them. While a message like this isn't typically a news story, it is when Tucker is the one saying it. And it definitely is a news story considering Tucker has homered twice in the last two games.
If Tucker really figured something out in his swing, he could be a 1.000 OPS kind of guy again for the Cubs. And if that sort of player returns to an already-stacked lineup, the Cubs could completely run away with the National League Central this summer.
The Cubs are the clear favorite in the division right now, but the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds have been hot of late as well. If Tucker begins to crush the ball to the level that everybody knows he's capable of, the Cubs will be in a position to run away with a playoff spot.
Now, none of this is to say Tucker has been a bad hitter this season. He's one of the better bats in the league and his stats indicate that, too. But there's more in the tank. He can generate numbers close to what Aaron Judge is doing when Tucker is really rolling.