CHICAGO — The fracture Kyle Tucker suffered in his right hand in June caused him pain, but he refused to go on the injured list or take extended time off.

It’s hard to really blame him.

After sliding awkwardly into second base on June 1 against the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field, the Cubs slugger turned in the best month of the season:

“I was already playing through it for however long and I was doing fine and everything and still playing well,” Tucker said before the Cubs’ series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday morning. “So I was just like, I’m just going to keep playing. There wasn’t really the need to go on an IL because I could still do everything.

“It was just more of a pain tolerance at that point rather than, like, I physically couldn’t do anything. So it’s just kind of how it was.”

Things took a turn for Tucker since then. 

Since July 1, Tucker has slashed just .189/.325/.235 (.560 OPS) with a 72 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) — 28 percentage points below league average — three doubles and one home run. He had a .931 OPS, 157 wRC+, 17 homers and 22 extra-base hits before that.

“What Kyle does, which I think most players do, is you put your head down, and you go to work. There’s a game the next day, and you go and try to win the game the next day, performing in the game the next day,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “And that’s how you think about it. Things were going pretty well – it was going very well. Not pretty, very well. And so that’s how it went down.”

Muddled in the worst slump of his career, Counsell gave his star outfielder two days off – three games total with Tuesday’s doubleheader – as a sort of mental reset with the hopes that it could spark an offensive groove.

Tucker was back in the lineup for Thursday’s matinee, hitting second and manning right field. But he and the Cubs aren’t fully certain if that injury is what’s caused his struggles at the plate.

“I didn’t really try to change my mechanics, or anything about it. It gradually happened over time, I don’t know,” Tucker said. “I was just kind of playing with it. And … I was doing fine for a while, and obviously, after a while, it kind of turned.

“But I don’t know if that’s necessarily it or the reason why, but that’s just kind of how things played out.”

Regardless of the root of his issues, Tucker and the Cubs hope he’s past them. They need him performing like he was in the first three months as they chase down a playoff spot and make a run in October.

And they are hoping the time off helped. 

Tucker treated the last two days like a normal game day, going through his pregame routine before taking a spot on the bench – and staying ready to play.

“I’d rather be out there playing and everything,” Tucker said. “But I mean we still won three games.”

He hopes he’s a part of winning more games. Throughout his struggles, Counsell has said Tucker’s approach is still there – he’s swinging at the right pitches and taking those that aren’t in his zone. But when he gets his pitch, he’s either fouling it off or rolling it over for a groundball, something that has been out of the norm for his career.

Before July 1, he had a 30.8% groundball rate. Since July 1, that number has ballooned to 40.7%, the highest it’s been since his rookie campaign in 2018, when he had 72 plate appearances.

Over the last two days, he spent time fine-tuning his swing so he could drive the ball more.

“I’m just trying to stay through the ball, extend my legs and drive the ball up the middle and everything,” Tucker said. “It’s felt great the last couple of days, but excited to be back in there.”

Tucker – and the Cubs, for that matter – are looking for that moment that gets him back on track.

“At any point throughout the year, you’re probably one swing away from turning things around, feeling great or something clicking to where you can feel something in that and then you can make it consistent with every at-bat,” Tucker said. “So, I mean, everyone’s about one swing away from having a really good year.”