The Chicago Cubs desperately needed a win on Sunday against the Pirates to secure the series two games to one. Thankfully, they achieved that by a thin margin, due to Dansby Swanson’s heroic play on his bobblehead day. He delivered two RBIs, including the game-winning sacrifice fly in the eighth. But still, the game will be remembered for not a clutch hit but a casual trot.
The game was tied 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning when Kyle Tucker stepped to the plate. He hit a routine ground ball straight to the first baseman, Spencer Horwitz, on the very first pitch of Andrew Heaney. It was an easy out. Tucker was visibly disappointed and simply did not run. This event was the last nail in the coffin of Cubs fans’ patience, who had already seen enough.
The reaction from the fans was brutal. A loud wave of boos rained down on their star player. The popular baseball account mlbeltes shared a tweet, Cubs Zone, and the video of the event in their Instagram account with the caption: “I don’t care how bad of a slump you are in, you have to run this out .” And the Cubs Zone tweet read like: “Kyle Tucker was just boo’d after he grounded out to first and didn’t run to first base.” On that note, Tucker’s night ended with 0 for 3 with one walk.
But we have to understand the boos were not just about one lazy jog. Anger reached its melting point with the team’s and players’ overall performance last month. Tucker’s last home run this season was on July 19 against the Boston Red Sox. After that, over a 23-game span, Tucker’s slash line was .187/.344/.213 with only 14 hits and two doubles over 97 plate appearances. And at a moment like this, where the Cubs are 11-13 since then, fans can forgive a slump. But they will never forgive a lack of effort.
And more importantly for Tucker, it is about a half-billion-dollar question hanging over the franchise.
A slump’s steep price tag
Those who didn’t know Tucker is set to be the top free agent this coming offseason should stop calling themselves a baseball fan. Before his performance declined, analysts expected Tucker’s contract could be between $500 million and $650 million. But amid this slump, Robert Murray of FanSided projected his value will “exceed $300 million and very well could touch $400 million.” He further said, “After a torrid start to his time in Chicago, Tucker has come back down to earth a bit. Still, he’s been a difference-making slugger, and is hitting .267/.380/.461 with an .842 OPS, 18 home runs and 62 RBI.”
But experts like The Athletic’s Jim Bowden still think, “Most analysts believe he will get somewhere between $500 million and $650 million …” And one can’t argue with his logic as well. Because the All-Star outfielder hit .323 in March and followed that up with a .311 average in June. He even smashed 17 home runs until the All-Star Break.
But coming back to the booing, the fans are frustrated with more than just Tucker. Other key player Seiya Suzuki has hit just .198 in the last 30 days. Though good in the last game, Dansby Swanson has batted just .214 in the same period. Another offensive power, Pete Crow Armstrong, hit just .208 with 0 homers as well in the last 15 games. And due to all of that, the Cubs were falling farther and farther behind (8 games since the last homerun of Tucker) against the Brewers. Now, wasn’t that enough to bring out the fan frustration?
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