The big question for the Cubs this weekend was not only whether they could beat up on the Nationals enough to essentially secure a spot in the National League playoffs–though that got off to a good start with an 11-5 win on Friday–but also whether the team would find it necessary to put star outfielder Kyle Tucker on the injured list after he suffered a calf injury.
Tucker was set to test the calf with some running on Saturday morning at Wrigley Field, before the Cubs face the Nats at 2:20 local time, and there was a good bit of tension around the exercise. The Cubs, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers, had brought up Triple-A outfielder Owen Caissie in case Tucker’s calf did not respond well.
But it appears Tucker handled the calf test well on Saturday. A couple of hours before the game was set to start, manager Craig Counsell declared that Tucker would not need to be put on the IL.
Cubs Will ‘Manage It’ Day-by -Day
Speaking to reporters in the dugout, Counsell dropped the news that Tucker would not be on the IL but would be day-to-day. If the Cubs had put Tucker on the 10-day list, they could have backdated it to Sept. 3 (he last played on Sept. 2) and Tucker would have been able to play again in a week.
But the Cubs expect him to be ready before then.
Said Counsell: “I think that’s how you manage it. That’s what we’re dealing with. We think we have time to let this heal without putting him on the injured list. Think he’ll be ready before what an injured list would cost him. We also, having the extra player in September, feel like we’re not playing short, really. Don’t feel like, from a roster perspective, it hurts us at all.
“I think you put all those factors in and we’re still going to be conservative with it, but because today—we felt like we saw improvement today, we think it’s worth just basically taking a day-to-day track.”
Kyle Tucker Playing With Injuries in 2025
This is the second significant (relatively) injury for Tucker this season, as he also dealt with a fracture in his hand that he incurred on June 1, an injury he played through for much of the summer.
Tucker is batting .270 with an .854 OPS and 22 homers on the season. Those are very good numbers, but they lose their shine in the context of where Tucker was on June 1: .284 with a .918 OPS. Like much of the team’s offense, he suffered through a rough August (.244, .735 OPS) but it appeared Tucker could get on a host streak when he went 3-for-5 with a homer on Tuesday.
Alas, he also came away from that game with the injury in his calf.
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