CHICAGO — The quest to get Chicago Cubs slugger Kyle Tucker hitting like the version who was a catalyst for baseball’s best offense the first three months of the season took another turn Tuesday.

In an effort to give him a mental reset, Tucker was not in the lineup for either game in Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Milwaukee Brewers. Owen Caissie got the start in right field in both games and played a big role in the Cubs’ 6-4 win in Game 1. The rookie delivered a bases-loaded two-run single in the first inning and slugged his first big-league home run on an opposite-field solo shot in the sixth.

“I think we all see the physical stuff, that’s easy,” Counsell said of Tucker on Tuesday. “It’s a lot of ground-balls and the mechanical struggles. But we’ve seen the mental struggle too, and sometimes it results in whatever, body language and things like that, that we see in each other when we’re struggling as people and so we try to help, try to support, try to motivate in any way we can.”

“There’s some time off, kind of get him away from the thoughts that he’s having and maybe create some new thoughts, that’s kind of the question I’m asking myself.”

Since the All-Star break, Tucker owns a .182/.333/.239 slash line with just three extra-base hits and six RBIs. The Cubs are 12-14 in games Tucker starts during that stretch.

“Production-wise, not great,” Tucker said Tuesday. “I mean, I’m just here trying to help the team win. I haven’t really done a great job of that lately, so that part of it sucks. But I’m still rooting for everyone around here, and hopefully everyone has success throughout the rest of the year. So I’m just trying to help us win games.

“Our job’s to go out there and play every single day and do the best we can. That’s just what I’m trying to do. Obviously, it hasn’t been great lately, but I’m trying to do my best and help our team win.”

Tucker’s pronounced offensive struggles over the last four weeks have seen the typically fly-ball hitter post a 46.5% ground-ball rate in his last 110 plate appearances (26 games) compared to a 30.7% GB percentage in his first 423 plate appearances (95 games). The longer the lack of production has trended — he is in the midst of the second-longest home run drought of his career — Cubs fans have more frequently directed boos toward Tucker, something he said Tuesday is “fine, I’ve still gotta do my job, regardless of cheers or boos or whatever.”

Cubs fans’ frustration became particularly noticeable during Monday’s 7-0 loss after Tucker half-heartedly, and on a delay, ran out a grounder in the fourth inning that Brewers first baseman Andrew Vaughn initially bobbled and dropped before making the unassisted out.

“It’s kind of exhausting for I don’t know how many times I’ve rolled over it to first or second,” Tucker said of the sequence. “Regardless, you’ve still gotta run down the line whether you’re out by 50 feet or not. It’s just a little tough right now.”

Tucker couldn’t pinpoint a stretch during his career in which he’s gone this long without being able to identify what’s wrong mechanically. He’s been looking at anything that could be impacting him, whether it’s related to his swing path or timing. Part of the bubbling frustration: Tucker’s approach has still been elite and he keeps putting himself in a good position to do damage.

Even during this troublesome stretch, his 17.3% walk rate leads the Cubs and ranks fourth among the 174 qualified MLB hitters. Counsell pointed to Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates as an example of where the right process hasn’t converted into results for Tucker. He got ahead 3-0 versus Pirates starter Carmen Mlodzinski, then took the next pitch and put himself into a fastball count. That was exactly what he got from Mlodzinski: a 96 mph fastball down the middle that Tucker again rolled over for a groundout to first base.

“Kyle is still doing a pretty good job of swinging at the right pitches and getting himself to the places he wants,” Counsell said. “I thought the first at-bat Sunday was really the defining thing of what he’s feeling. … Trying to put on the player hat a little bit is that you’re like, ‘I don’t know why this keeps happening, I did exactly what I wanted to do for four pitches, did my job really well and got myself a pitch to hit and I got the same result.’

“It’s not happening when he gets in the box and so there’s separation of what he wants and what’s happening, what he thinks he feels and what’s happening, and you just try to keep working on that.”

Tucker doesn’t seem to think there is a lingering issue or impact from when he jammed his right index finger June 1 on a slide. Asked if he is dealing with any physical ailment that would be best served by a stint on the injured list, Tucker replied, “No, I’m fine.”

“I mean, I’ve played for the most part every game this year so I’m fine going out there.”

Tucker’s impending free agency keeps creeping closer, a market that coming into the season was expected to be robust for the 28-year-old outfielder whose consistency became a staple of his success in Houston. Being this close to free agency, Tucker stated he doesn’t care how this stretch could impact that right now. Tucker reiterated how he just cares about Tuesday’s games and helping the Cubs win.

As Tucker spent five minutes discussing his frustrating situation in the clubhouse Tuesday morning, a “Jobu” figurine sat on a shelf in his locker behind him. “Jobu” was memorably at the center of a locker shrine created by fictional hitter Pedro Cerrano in the movie “Major League” to try to help him hit a curveball. Tucker figured maybe this version could help channel a change in his own mojo.

“It hasn’t helped yet,” he noted.

____

©2025 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.