{"id":93035,"date":"2025-08-24T16:29:43","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T16:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=93035"},"modified":"2025-08-24T16:29:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T16:29:43","slug":"cubs-craig-counsell-unleashes-fiery-defense-of-kyle-tuckers-slump-busting-heroics-but-will-his-bold-words-spark-a-playoff-fire-or-mask-deeper-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=93035","title":{"rendered":"Cubs\u2019 Craig Counsell unleashes fiery defense of Kyle Tucker\u2019s slump-busting heroics \u2013 but will his bold words spark a playoff fire or mask deeper struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tucker-vs-as.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tucker-vs-as.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tucker-vs-as.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tucker-vs-as.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Cubs Manager Craig Counsell Sends Strong Message on Kyle Tucker\" width=\"780\" height=\"527\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p>Kyle Tucker hitting a home run against the Athletics<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Chicago Cubs star Kyle Tucker broke out of his slump Friday and Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels, going a combined 4-for-9 over the two games with three home runs and six runs batted in. Cubs Manager Craig Counsell was asked about Tuckers\u2019 performance after Saturday\u2019s game and stood up for his player after he received some backlash during the slump.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think this was coming, this is the nature of the game,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want slumps, we hate slumps, they\u2019re mentally exhausting to go through, but they happen. Kyle will be better moving forward because of this. It\u2019s part of the game, it happens and you\u2019ve got to get through it. He\u2019s a great player and he works hard to figure it out and get back on track. We needed him to do it and he\u2019s done so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In his previous eight games, Tucker had a line of 2-for-28, and was benched for a game against the Milwaukee Brewers to give him a reset. He answered the bell with a resounding thump after his skid and now seems to have his mojo back.<\/p>\n<h2>Tucker is a Huge Part of Chicago\u2019s Success This Season<\/h2>\n<p>After spending his first seven seasons with the Houston Astros, Tucker signed a one-year deal with the Cubs in the offseason, worth $16.5 million dollars. With a roster that Cubs management thought was ready to contend, they went out and made a splash by signing him and he has delivered as a perfect compliment power piece to an already powerful lineup.<\/p>\n<p>Tucker has a 4.4 WAR, good for second on the team below young phenom Pete Crow-Armstrong and reliable second baseman Nico Hoerner. Tucker\u2019s 21 home runs are fourth best on the team. He was named an all-star starter back in July.<\/p>\n<p>He also has 24 stolen bases and has been a reliable outfielder with just two errors on the season.<\/p>\n<h2>Can the Cubs Catch the Brewers in the NL Central Race?<\/h2>\n<p>The Milwaukee Brewers have exploded out of nowhere to overtake what most thought was the Cubs division to lose at the beginning of the season. However, after their monstrous 14 game winning streak, the Brewers dropped 3 of 5 to the Cubs, who have given Milwaukee some of it\u2019s best competition this season.<\/p>\n<p>Though the Cubs are six games back of the Brewers at the moment, Chicago plays the second easiest remaining schedule in the MLB, with 10 of their remaining 32 games coming against the truly abysmal Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox. The Brewers on the other hand have a gauntlet in the final month, taking on the Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres three times each and playing a St. Louis Cardinals team that is fighting tooth and nail to eke into the playoffs six times.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019ll be an uphill battle for the Cubs to mount enough wins to catch Milwaukee, but crazier things have happened. Either way, it does feel like the Cubs and Brewers are set on a collision course to meet each other in the playoffs at some point for a series that will be in contention for one of the best matchups of the year.<\/p>\n<p>Matt Skillings Matt Skillings is a Boston based sports journalist and a graduate of UMass Amherst, where he majored in journalism and communication. Matt covered the UMass men&#8217;s ice hockey team for three years for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. He was also a media intern for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League for two summers. Matt has additional bylines with the New England Hockey Journal, the Boston Globe and MassLive. More about Matt Skillings<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cubs Manager Craig Counsell stood up for Kyle Tucker after he received some backlash during his extended slump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":93036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cubs\u2019 Craig Counsell unleashes fiery defense of Kyle Tucker\u2019s slump-busting heroics \u2013 but will his bold words spark a playoff fire or mask deeper struggles - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=93035\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cubs\u2019 Craig Counsell unleashes fiery defense of Kyle Tucker\u2019s slump-busting heroics \u2013 but will his bold words spark a playoff fire or mask deeper struggles - 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