HOUSTON – The Houston Astros activated right fielder Kyle Tucker from the injured list on Friday, 96 days after a bad pitch broke his right tibia and halted his bid for American League MVP.
Tucker will be available for the Astros’ series opener on Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Minute Maid Park. He faced a bunch of Astros minor league pitchers in live batting practice sessions while working through a running program instead of a minor league rehab assignment.
The Astros went 48-30 during Tucker’s 78-game absence, an astonishing feat considering how unproductive their outfield became without him. Only the Toronto Blue Jays have extracted a lower OPS from their outfielders since June 4 — the day after Tucker’s injury.
After the Astros insisted for three months that Tucker suffered a “shin contusion,” he revealed this week that he suffered a small fracture in his tibia bone.
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Astros’ Kyle Tucker suffered a broken tibia against the Cardinals in June
Houston used seven different right fielders in their attempts to replace Tucker. The underperformance and hesitation of Jake Meyers and Chas McCormick to play Yordan Alvarez in left field further complicated the pursuit of the Astros.
Although he missed 78 games, Tucker still trails only Alvarez for the team lead in wins above replacement among position players, according to Baseball-Reference. Tucker hit 19 home runs, slugged .584 and posted a .979 OPS across the first 60 games of the season.
Expecting him to maintain that dominance after a three-month layoff is impossible, but Tucker’s mere presence will extend a lineup in desperate need of it. Manager Joe Espada may need to sprinkle in a few days at designated hitter as Tucker continues to increase his run intensity, but the overall goal shouldn’t change — to have Tucker as close to full strength as possible for a potential playoff run.
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(Photo: Kevin M. Cox / Associated Press)
