PEORIA, Ariz. — New Cubs star Kyle Tucker doesn’t take extraneous swings.
“If you feel like you’re in a good spot, there’s no need to hit yourself out of that,” he said Monday in a conversation with the Sun-Times.
Most days he’s only in the batting cage for 15 or 20 minutes, he estimated. But a few days ago, he stayed for about 45.
He was looking for the feeling of being synced up in his movements, not over-striding. He visualized standing in the box, comfortable and aggressive.
“That was my first game [Sunday], so I was just trying to get back into that mode,” he said. “I was just trying to feel it out.”
Fans in the Sloan Park stands Sunday greeted Tucker with an ovation before his first spring training at-bat in Cubbie Blue. It was another small milestone leading up to Tucker’s regular season debut with the team that acquired him this winter to elevate their offense.
“Our spring training venue is as good as it gets,” manager Craig Counsell said Monday. “And it almost recreates Wrigley in this mini version, which is so cool and really rare in Major League Baseball. So, there were so many Cubs fans, and they kind of gave Kyle ‘Welcome No. 1.’ I’m sure we’ll get another one in Wrigley, but that was fun to see.”
Tucker, who went 0-for-3, said he would have loved to rack up three hits in his Cubs spring training debut. But he doesn’t care as much about results at this point.
“It’s nice to get the first game under your belt, and I felt pretty comfortable,” he said. “Put some good swings on there, and felt good in the box and everything. So, happy with how it went — outside of just no hits.”
Tucker’s post-trade introduction to the fan base came last month at Cubs Convention, but in the first couple weeks of camp, he’s had a chance to connect with his new teammates.
Last week, first baseman Michael Busch sat with Tucker up the third base line during live batting practice. The pair of left-handed hitters chatted between Tucker’s at-bats.
“Getting to know him a little bit, he’s a really good dude,” Busch told the Sun-Times. “He’s so relaxed. But also, in the box — just having a few conversations with him about it — he knows what he’s looking for, he knows what he does well. And so, not even picking his brain, just listening to him a little bit, there’s a reason he’s been able to do it at such a high level for as many years as he has.”
Left-hander Matthew Boyd, who called Tucker “one of the best hitters on baseball” had the less comfortable experience of facing Tucker in live BP.
Tucker owns a Top-10 OPS among qualified hitters over the last four seasons and has relatively even career splits against lefties compared to righties. But Boyd is winning their individual matchups. He’s retired Tucker all five times they’ve met in the regular season, according to Baseball Reference. In Game 3 of the 2022 ALDS, Tucker drew a walk off Boyd.
“He makes you think outside the box because he’s disciplined to his approach,” Boyd said. “And that’s dangerous, when someone is so disciplined to what they do, and they’re not being tossed about by whatever’s coming their way. It elevates you.”
Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has yet to play next to Tucker in a game — the right fielder eased into play by serving as the designated hitter Sunday. But Crow-Armstrong has enjoyed observing Tucker in person, rather than on a television screen.
“Watching a guy like that, you know that he knows himself very well,” Crow-Armstrong said “And it’s hard to question that, seeing his success on the field.”
That much is clear when Tucker stays in the batting cage for 45 minutes, pursuing an exact feeling.
It’s also obvious when he decides 15 minutes is plenty.
