Cubs wary of unfriendly wind holding back Tucker

The Cubs' biggest acquisition has delivered early results.

Right fielder Kyle Tucker has a top-10 OPS through nine games and has even brought Seiya Suzuki along for the ride, which is what big bats are supposed to add to the lineup.

Now it's time for Tucker to meet his new roommate — the Wrigley Field wind.

Cubs fans may recall how after last season, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer spent time complaining about how often the wind was blowing in, and how that stymied the offense.

It was an ill wind, no doubt. There were 153 home runs hit at Wrigley last year, the fewest in a full season since 2014.

According to the Statcast park factors index, Wrigley Field was the 22nd most hitter-friendly stadium in 2024, after ranking No. 11 in ’23.

So who knows which way the wind will blow this summer? Wrigley is traditionally tougher on left-handed hitters, who pull the ball directly toward Lake Michigan.

In the history of the Cubs, only one lefty hitter has produced 40 home runs in a season — Billy Williams hit 42 in 1970. Kyle Schwarber's 38 homers in 2019 is second among lefties.

During his time with Houston, Tucker played three games at Wrigley Field last April and did well (4-for-11), but he did not hit a home run. He'll get another chance Friday at the Cubs' home opener against San Diego.

Back in February, Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly was already thinking about how to help Tucker deal with the often unfriendly wind on the North Side.

“There will be conversations,” Kelly said. “There's going to be times when that wind is blowing in and it's going to get into your head about, 'Can I hit a home run today?' So we'll have approach conversations.

“But with a guy like that, he's got enough power, even when the wind's blowing in.”

Kelly said he and manager Craig Counsell talked about trying to use the wind as a homefield advantage. Part of that is being able to grind out runs and part of it is refusing to get flustered at the plate when the wind is howling toward home plate.

“We probably didn't talk about that enough last year.” Kelly said. “It's like a football team that plays in really cold weather all the time and a West Coast team comes out — we should be able to use that to our advantage, and we will.”

This week's forecast is a little dreary. Temperatures may not hit 50 degrees during the Cubs' opening homestand, but there are two warm-weather teams coming in, the Padres and Rangers.

“It's not necessarily a game plan or we don't have plays for the wind,” Kelly said. “But I think mentally, we can be better and stronger than the other team.

“Everybody wants to come into Wrigley as a visiting team. But then when you're taking BP and that wind's blowing in your face at 25-30 miles an hour and it's cold, it kind of takes a toll on you mentally.”

Last year, the Cubs hit 78 home runs at home and 92 on the road. The pitching splits were even more extreme, with the Cubs giving up just 75 home runs at Wrigley and 106 on the road.

According to onlyhomers.com, just three MLB ballparks had fewer home runs than Wrigley last season — St. Louis, Kansas City and San Francisco.