In surprise move, Cubs put Kyle Tucker on 10-day IL with strained left calf

ATLANTA — Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker was surprised by the soreness and tightness in his left calf before the game Tuesday, after days of progress and an intensive session the day before testing the injury.

“I was hoping to feel good today and coming in, and hopefully getting in there,” Tucker said. “But obviously, it didn’t really work out like that. So that part is kind of frustrating.”

Instead, the Cubs put Tucker on the 10-day IL, retroactive to Saturday. In a corresponding move Tuesday, they recalled rookie catcher/designated hitter Moisés Ballesteros. Manager Craig Counsell said he didn’t know if Tucker would only need a minimum stay.

“I’m hopeful,” Counsell said. “But I was wrong in terms of avoiding the IL. So, we just have to get to a point where he’s not symptomatic and not feeling it doing baseball activities.”

With Tucker sidelined for at least another week, the Cubs will give him several days off before they test his calf with running drills again. But Tucker said throwing and hitting feel “pretty normal,” so he expects to keep up with non-problematic baseball activities in the meantime.

“It’s really just the running part that bothers me,” he said. “Which, obviously, you’ve got to run after you hit the ball, so just trying to get better at that.”

As the Cubs weighed whether to put Tucker on the IL in the aftermath of his exit from the 4-3 win against the Braves last Tuesday, his symptoms were minor enough that they expected him to be back in the lineup within about a week. And the extra September roster spots meant the Cubs weren’t really playing down a man, compared to the rest of the year.

If they’d put him on the IL on Saturday or before, Tucker could have become eligible to return a few days earlier than is the case now. But the way his injury presented Tuesday, it appeared he’d need another week to recover regardless.