The Chicago Cubs made a significant strike on the MLB trade market Friday, acquiring three-time All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker in a blockbuster deal with the Houston Astros.
While Tucker, 28 in January, has been among baseball's best hitters in the 2020s, he's also not exactly a known name outside of baseball fans, making his name as an effective piece in a devastating Houston Astros lineup which included a World Series title in 2022.
A native of Tampa, Florida, Tucker was drafted fifth overall by the Astros in the 2015 MLB Draft directly out of high school, making his MLB debut in July 2018 in a game against the Chicago White Sox.
Though Tucker was left off the club's 2018 postseason roster, he made his way onto the 2019 postseason roster after limited time with the big league club in the regular season, playing five of the seven games in that year's World Series.
Tucker has since played in two more Fall Classics, winning the championship over the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022.
The pandemic-shortened 2020 season marked Tucker's first as a full-time contributor, missing just two of his team's 60 games while leading all of baseball in triples with six.
Tucker went on to have a particularly productive 2020 postseason that saw his club nearly erase a 3-0 deficit against the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Championship Series.
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In 13 playoff games that year, Tucker was 15-for-49 with a home run and six runs batted in, scoring four runs along the way as well.
The outfielder broke out further in 2021, finishing 20th in AL MVP voting while setting career highs in nearly every statistical category, which included 30 home runs and 14 stolen bases.
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Tucker followed that up with another stellar postseason in a World Series run for the Astros, hitting four home runs and four doubles alongside five stolen bases and 15 RBI in 16 playoff games.
Further improvement was in store in 2022, with Tucker once again reaching 30 home runs while setting career highs with 107 RBI and 25 stolen bases. He was named to his first All-Star team, finishing 15th in AL MVP voting while also capturing a Gold Glove for his work in right field.
Though Tucker wasn't quite as productive in the 2022 postseason, he still slugged three home runs and a double en route to a World Series championship, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.
The following season marked Tucker's strongest thus far, posting 97 runs, 37 doubles, an AL-leading 112 RBI and a career-high 30 stolen bases on his way to a fifth-place MVP finish, second-straight All-Star selection and his first career Silver Slugger.
Tucker greatly struggled in the 2023 postseason however, going just 6-for-40 with three doubles in a playoffs that saw the Astros fall to the rival Texas Rangers in a seven-game ALCS.
Despite a shin injury limiting his 2024 campaign to just 78 games, Tucker posted stellar offensive numbers, compiling a .993 OPS and 181 OPS+ with 23 home runs, 11 stolen bases and 13 doubles in just 277 at-bats.
The numbers were good enough to warrant a third-consecutive All-Star selection for Tucker, a streak he'll look to continue in his first year as a Cub.
