CHICAGO — Kyle Tucker was back at Wrigley Field with the Cubs prior to the opener against the Mets on Tuesday evening, but the star outfielder was not back in the lineup. With a Wild Card series fast approaching for the North Siders, Tucker is still building toward a comeback from a left calf injury that has sidelined him for three weeks.
The good news on Tuesday was the fact that Tucker was able to go through running drills — including a light session on the basepaths — for the second day in a row. That was a step forward for the right fielder, who exited with the calf strain on Sept. 2 against Atlanta and landed on the 10-day injured list on Sept. 9 due to little improvement.
“We’ve made progress, for sure,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said on Tuesday. “We’re just going to treat this day to day as much as we can, and just try to keep having good days. There’s time urgency here — there’s no question about it. But, we just want to keep having good days.”
The Cubs have clinched a spot in the postseason and are set to begin play on Sept. 30, but are still trying to clinch home-field advantage for the best-of-three series. With Tucker still shelved on Tuesday, that leaves five games in the regular season for him to try to get some playing time before the playoffs.
Counsell said he was “still hopeful” to have Tucker activated and in games (initially as a designated hitter) before the postseason begins. Tucker said he still had “a few more boxes” to check before there would be comfort across the board to have him back on the field. The main hurdle remains increasing the intensity of the running and monitoring his recovery.
“I mean, obviously I’d like to be in there today,” Tucker said. “We’ll see how [Wednesday] goes and we’ll talk about it on a day-to-day basis and try to get in there at some point this series or next series before the playoffs start. We’ve got to take it day by day in those conversations.”
During the Cubs’ recent road trip, Tucker left the team to travel to his home in Tampa, Fla., to consult a physical therapy group that he said has worked with him for the past decade. It is the same group he has used in past offseasons and also consulted a year ago as he was working back from a right shin fracture while with the Astros.
“I thought some of the stuff we were doing here was good,” Tucker said. “Some days I felt pretty good. Some days I thought I would’ve felt better. It’s just kind of how things go, I’m sure, at times. I just figured — obviously with the season winding down — I’m just trying to come back as soon as possible. I just brought that up as an option to just maybe have a few other ways to go about it or have eyes of other people that I trust work with me on it.”
Down the stretch last year, Tucker returned to the lineup for Houston in September after missing roughly three months due to the previous leg injury. In the 18 games before the playoffs, Tucker turned in a .365/.453/.587 slash line without having a Minor League rehab assignment prior to activation.
Tucker — hitting .270/.381/.472 with 22 homers, 25 doubles, 73 RBIs and 86 walks in 133 games this season — was optimistic he could step back into the lineup and find his rhythm. He has been able to keep hitting behind the scenes throughout the stint on the IL.
“I think I’ll be all right,” Tucker said. “For the most part, I think it’s more of a mental thing. If I can get mentally locked in, and I feel comfortable and I get at least a few at-bats, it’s something [where] I’ll be fine.”