Kyle Tucker's Cubs tenure lifts off with first full-squad workouts: 'He’s a true superstar'
MESA, Ariz. – Kyle Tucker, the Cubs’ big offseason addition, and Ian Happ, the longest-tenured player on the team, plopped down next to each other in the first base dugout on Field 2 of the Cubs’ spring training complex.
In the hubbub of the first day of full-squad workouts, the transition between outfield work and batting practice gave them a few minutes to just chat.
“It's been a lot of fun getting to know the guys more on a personal level, and be around them every day now, and looking forward to getting after it,” Tucker said Friday. “Today was a good first day.”
Tucker had been around the complex for a couple days already. But Friday had the added cachet of chairman Tom Ricketts’ team address, manager Craig Counsell’s opening remarks, and the heft of the entire spring training roster.
While the Cubs front office also fortified the bullpen and added to the rotation, Tucker was the highest profile player they brought in this offseason.
“He’s a true superstar,” second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “He's an incredible player. He does absolutely every part of baseball well, which you don't really see from many players, even guys that are All-Stars every year. … And it makes everyone around you better.”
Hoerner and Tucker briefly played together as teenagers, on Team USA’s 15U team in 2012. Tucker also obviously knows veteran high-leverage reliever Ryan Pressly, who the Cubs acquired from the Astros this offseason.
They tried to add another player from those perennial playoff-contending Astros teams, pursuing Alex Bregman in free agency to the end. But the Red Sox out-bid them, and Bregman reportedly agreed to a three-year deal for $120 million Wednesday night.
“Obviously sad that I'm not going be able to play with him this year,” Tucker said. “But, you never know what the future holds. He is such a phenomenal person and player. I wasn't trying to sway him one way or another; that's a personal decision, a lot of business stuff that goes into it. But I would have loved to have him.”
Tucker is up next, set to become a free agent after this season. Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has expressed interest in keeping Tucker in the organization, and Tucker said he was open to extension talks. But the way Bregman's free agency played out highlighted the limits of the Cubs’ self-imposed budget. And Tucker will be in high demand.
“You never know how the future's going to play out,” Tucker said. “You just try and take it one day at a time. … Right now, I'm a Chicago Cub. I'm excited to be here and try and win games for the Cubbies.”
The task at hand is snapping a four-year playoff drought. On that front, the Cubs’ team leaders are certainly aligned.
“I hate it,” shortstop Dansby Swanson said of sitting at home in October.
Happ, who has been in the organization since being drafted No. 9 overall in 2015, has seen the highs and lows of the last decade of Cubs baseball. And through that roller-coaster ride, he says sights are always set for the postseason.
"From a lineup standpoint, just having Tuck in the middle of that, or wherever it ends up being, is going to help us a lot,” Happ said.
Tucker is coming from an organization that’s been to the playoffs the last eight years. He was there for the last seven trips and won the World Series in 2022.
“We have a really good ball club, and I think we have a really good opportunity to have a lot of success this year and make the playoffs and have a run at the World Series,” Tucker said. “I say it every year: that's our goal, to get to the World Series and win.”