CHICAGO, Ill. (NBC Chicago) -- Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker has hit just one home run in his last 136 at-bats, and he’ll be on the bench for the second game of a Monday doubleheader.
Tucker, who went 0-for-4 in Monday’s 7-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, was booed by Cubs fans during that game as he continues the worst slump of his professional career.
After the game, manager Craig Counsell said he understood that fans were “frustrated” with Tucker’s performance, and that he hopes that benching his star player can have a positive impact.
“We’re gonna have to take a little step back here, and just give him some days off to reset him hopefully,” he said. “He’s frustrated and we’re not coming up with solutions for him. And he’s not coming up with solutions for himself.”
Counsell said that Tucker’s case may require “taking some steps back to go forward,” and he’s hoping for a mental reset for his troubled slugger.
“He’s not going to play the second game and we’ll go from there,” he said.
So far in the month of August Tucker is 8-for-58 with zero extra base hits and just one run batted in. His batting average has plummeted by 26 points since he hit his high watermark for the season, and he’s hit just one home run since June 29. He has three doubles during that stretch, which encompasses 136 at-bats.
The Cubs as a team have been struggling badly on offense, and that continued Monday as they managed just two hits and zero runs against a Milwaukee team that is now nine games ahead of them in the National League Central.
The Cubs do still have a 5.5-game lead on the Cincinnati Reds in the wild card race, but are now tied with the San Diego Padres for the top wild card spot amid a continued slump.
They’ll try to reverse things on Monday night against the Brewers, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m.
