Craig Counsell’s harsh message to Kyle Tucker will cost Cubs star more than playing time

The Chicago Cubs traded for Kyle Tucker hoping he’d be the superstar the team had lacked for years, and for the first half of the season, he was exactly that. He was in the thick of the NL MVP conversation and started for the National League in the All-Star Game. He was everything the Cubs could’ve asked for and then some.

Unfortunately, Tucker, alongside virtually every single one of his Cubs teammate, has struggled offensively lately. His struggles have gone on so long to the point where his manager, Craig Counsell, has had enough, and appears to be ready to give him more than one day of rest in a row.

Sounds like Kyle Tucker is going to get multiple days off, per Craig Counsell. He’s struggling mightily. He went 0-4 this afternoon and has a 57 percent ground ball rate this month. Time for a reset.

— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) August 18, 2025Tucker is getting a chance to clear his head and reset. This is something Cubs fans have been eager to see for a while now, and Counsell is finally ready to oblige.

Craig Counsell on Kyle Tucker getting booed: “The fans are frustrated and Kyle is frustrated. When you make outs, it doesn’t look good. He’s trying. It’s just not clicking. We’re going to have to take a step back here, just give him some days off to reset him, hopefully.”

— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) August 18, 2025This won’t be what Tucker, a fierce competitor, wants to happen, but it’s hard to blame Counsell for going in this direction. Tucker has struggled for a while, and things have only gotten worse on the Cubs’ current homestand. I mean, Tucker, a player who Cubs fans wanted Jed Hoyer to give a blank check to a month ago, was booed by those same fans after grounding out.

What’s starting to feel abundantly clear is that Counsell’s decision to bench Tucker for a couple of days will not only impact his playing time in the short-term — it’ll impact his earning potential in the winter.

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Kyle Tucker is losing himself money every day slump persistsTucker is a free agent at the end of the year, and while he was never going to make Juan Soto-type of money, he had a legitimate shot at getting around or potentially even above $500 million. He entered the year as one of the most well-rounded players in the game, and was only stepping his game up in Chicago. The script has flipped exponentially lately, and that will cost him.

This story will be updated.