Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker played through a right-hand fracture diagnosed in June.

According to insiders, Chicago Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker was found to have a subtle fracture in his right hand in June.

The 28-year-old Tucker aimed to continue playing for the then top-ranked Cubs and chose to avoid the injured list because his OPS for that month was 0.982. However, his performance declined from early July onward, prompting him to take a few days off this week for recovery.

On June 1st, Kyle Tucker was injured sliding into second base during a game against the Cincinnati Reds. Initial X-rays of his right-hand fingers came back negative, but further imaging revealed a minor fracture near the junction of his pinky and ring fingers on the palm side.

Additional examinations in mid-June showed the injury was healing but still affecting Tucker. By then, he may have started relying more on his right hand, which led to impaired hand mechanics.

“There’s no doubt, looking at his numbers, this definitely impacted him,” Cubs baseball operations president Jed Hoyer recently stated. “These small injuries sometimes are like that—they truly do have an effect.”