How close is Cubs’ Tucker to returning from injury?

Posted September 15, 2025 7:39 pm

By Patrick Mooney

PITTSBURGH — The Cubs presented Kyle Tucker as their nominee for the 2025 Roberto Clemente Award, a choice that lines up with what teammates have noticed behind the scenes. The All-Star outfielder is heavily invested in what could be his first and only season at Wrigley Field, making the effort to not come across as an outsider.

How this will end, though, is still unclear. Tucker’s future as a free agent has already been put on the back burner. The club’s more pressing issue is the strained left calf that landed him on the 10-day injured list last week (retroactive to Sept. 6), leaving him in a holding pattern while the Cubs try to get ready for the playoffs.

“It hasn’t gone as quickly as I would have hoped,” Tucker said before Monday night’s game at PNC Park. “I’m just going to try to keep getting after it.”

At Tucker’s locker in the visiting clubhouse, there was a gray No. 21 jersey in honor of Clemente, an iconic figure for the Pittsburgh Pirates whose legacy as a humanitarian inspired one of Major League Baseball’s most prestigious honors.

At this point, it does not sound like Tucker is close to suiting up. “Not much progress, frankly,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said during Monday’s pregame media briefing. With less than two weeks remaining in the regular season, Tucker signaled that he does not need a certain amount of at-bats to be prepared for October.

“I don’t think there’s an actual specific number,” Tucker said. “I’d like to get back today, but it’s not really going to happen right now.”

Tucker appeared in 64 playoff games with the Houston Astros, the organization that drafted and developed him into a World Series champion before trading him to Chicago last offseason. Though he experienced a career-worst slump after the All-Star break, Tucker has mostly been the presence the Cubs needed in the middle of their lineup, generating nearly 5 WAR.

Off the field, Tucker has partnered his charitable foundation with Cubs Charities and local health organizations to support hospice care workers and programs. The overall experience in a new city, Tucker said, has been “awesome.”

“We just try and help out as much as we can in the community,” Tucker said. “There’s a bunch of fans, and all of Chicago, that root for us. So we just try and give back in whichever way we can. It’s been fun, being in Chicago and everything. The city loves the Cubs. We try to come out and win games and play the best we can for them.”