Cubs' Kyle Tucker Placed on IL with Calf Injury amid 2025 MLB Playoff Race

The Chicago Cubs have placed outfielder Kyle Tucker on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to Saturday, Sept. 6) with a left calf strain.

Chicago has called up catcher Moisés Ballesteros from Triple-A Iowa in a corresponding move.

The 28-year-old Tucker has hit .270 (.854 OPS) with 22 home runs and 73 RBI in 133 games this season. He's also scored 89 runs and stolen 25 bases.

Tucker spent his first seven seasons with the Houston Astros. He made the American League All-Star team in his final three years there, winning a Gold Glove in 2022 and a Silver Slugger in 2023. Tucker finished fifth in the AL MVP race in 2023, pacing the AL with 112 RBI.

Last December, the Cubs traded Isaac Paredes, Cam Smith and Hayden Wesneski to the Houston Astros for Tucker. He entered the season with one year of club control on his contract, and he and the Cubs avoided an arbitration hearing by agreeing to a one-season, $16.5 million deal.

Tucker has largely been exceptional for the Cubs, making the NL All-Star team and helping Chicago earn an 81-63 record, good enough for the top NL Wild Card spot.

However, Tucker also endured a lengthy 25-game slump from July 20-Aug. 21, when he hit just .163 and didn't hit a homer. He's fared much better since, hitting .400 with four home runs in 11 games.

Tucker hasn't played since Sept. 2 against the Atlanta Braves. He hit a three-run homer but later left the contest with left calf tightness before the seventh inning.

"I did as much as I could," Tucker told reporters. "Eventually, I was like, 'I'd rather not try to test this much further and make it any more than it really is.'"

Last Saturday, manager Craig Counsell expressed hope the injury could heal without an IL stint.

Unfortunately, Tucker will need to go on the IL. Since he's been out of the lineup, the Cubs have put usual designated hitter Seiya Suzuki in right field for three of five games and utility man Willi Castro for the other two.

Chicago has struggled of late without Tucker, going 1-4. The Cubs are still well in position for the playoffs, though, sitting eight games ahead of the San Francisco Giants, the last team out of the NL Wild Card race.