The Cubs have finally placed Kyle Tucker on the Injured List with a left calf sprain.
#Cubs place Kyle Tucker on the 10-day IL with a left calf strain (retro to 9/6). Moises Ballesteros recalled from Triple-A.
— Taylor McGregor (@Taylor_McGregor) September 9, 2025
Tucker went through a prolonged stretch this summer dealing with a broken bone in his hand, but he never went on the IL. Instead, he played hurt. After Craig Counsell gave him a few days off, he caught fire and started to look like his old self. However, it wasn’t long before he injured his calf and needed to take more time off.
During July and the beginning of August, having Kyle Tucker in the lineup felt like playing a man down. In the last week, with him on the bench, the team literally was a man down. Since Tucker remained on the active roster, Counsell was forced to manage his team with one fewer option off the bench. When Pete Crow-Armstrong got injured, the situation became even worse.
By the time Tuesday’s game ends, Tucker will not have played in a week. Six of those days were spent on the active roster, a decision that has seemed rather puzzling. A minimum IL stint is only ten days, meaning he would already be close to returning had he gone on the IL immediately. Still, what’s done is done.
Moisés Ballesteros is back after recently arriving in Atlanta, in case a roster move like this needed to happen. He spent a little over a month in Triple-A after being demoted from the major league team and will now look to build his case as the playoff push continues.