Of Kyle Tuckers’ many on-field attributes that his Cubs teammates and coaches could rave about, his disciplined approach at the plate has garnered some of the most praise.
“Kyle’s one of the elite offensive players in our game,” manager Craig Counsell said last week in St. Louis. “It shows up every day. Maybe it’s not always a home run or three hits or whatever, but the pitch selection is always so good. … Kind of match-up proof. And those are valuable, valuable players to have in the lineup every day.”
Tucker, who the Cubs acquired this offseason to raise the level of their offense, is in the 98th percentile in chase rate (17.4%), according to Statcast. And that skill has allowed the rest of his offensive talents to shine, as he’s put together a likely fourth straight All-Star season.
Committed to only swinging at his pitch, he has the sixth-highest OPS among qualified major-league hitters. And his walk rate (14.3%) is in the 95th percentile.
“I’ve tried to get good at not chasing pitches and trying to lay off the pitches on the edges,” Tucker said in a recent conversation with the Sun-Times. “My thing is, if you’re able to not swing at the pitches that they want you to swing at, you can draw walks and get on base and just provide opportunities for guys behind you. Or you can wait them out, and they’re going to have to throw pitches over the plate, to where you’re more likely to barrel those balls up or have a lot more success swinging the bat.”
It isn’t a new skill for Tucker, but it’s one that he’s refined over the past few years. Cubs director of player development Jason Kanzler got a firsthand look at Tucker’s dedication to it, when Kanzler was a member of the Astros coaching staff in 2022-23 before he joined the Cubs
“It’s unsurprising how good he is with his plate discipline, but it is also so surprising how good he is with his plate discipline,” Kanzler said. “It is incredible, his ability to control the zone, how early his takes are when it’s not a pitch he wants.”
In 2022, Tucker’s 26.1% chase rate was still significantly better than average. But over the next two seasons, it would steadily drop, to 21.6% in 2023 and 17.5% in 2024, according to Statcast.
Tucker attributes that swift improvement to simply putting emphasis on the skill.
“If you’re able to mentally lock in with that stuff, then over time, you naturally get better and better at that stuff,” he said, “especially if you make a point of doing it and make it part of your routine.”
It isn’t just about balls and strikes, either. Plots of Tucker’s swing percentages and slugging percentages by zone both have hot spots on the inner half of the plate, from the middle up. That alignment shows he’s swinging most often at pitches he will do damage on.
Often players trying to hone their swing mechanics will pull from video during the best stretches in their careers. But Tucker described a mental version of that process.
“I try to figure out the times when I am doing well, and try to figure out how to prolong that,” he said, “and just the mental-play side of things, how to recognize what I’m doing in those times and just try and do it every time, or as often as I can.”
All-Star Futures Game
Prospects Jaxon Wiggins and Owen Caissie are set to represent the Cubs in the 2015 All-Star Futures game. MLB announced full rosters on Monday.
Wiggins, a right-handed pitcher, was cruising through High-A with a 1.71 ERA when the Cubs promoted him to Double-A in mid-May. In seven starts with Double-A Knoxville, Wiggins is posting 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
Caissie, a towering outfielder and left-handed hitter, leads qualified Triple-A Iowa hitters in OPS (.877), tied with catcher Moises Ballesteros. Caissie is ranked the Cubs’ No. 1 prospect by MLB Pipeline.
The Futures Game is scheduled for Saturday, July 12 at the Braves’ Truist Park.
