Watch: Kyle Tucker Hits First Home Run as a Cub

[Andrew Wright]

Drink it in, folks. Spring training baseball doesn't get any better than this.

Image courtesy of © Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

The early spring struggles of Kyle Tucker were starting to become a bit of a worry for some Cubs fans. Our very own Matt Trueblood dove deep into those struggles and found out that Tucker is usually quite good in Spring Training in his career and that has not yet been the case this year. Tucker, however, being the superstar he is, broke out of his slump in a mighty way on Sunday afternoon.

Headed into Sunday, Kyle Tucker was 0-for-19 so far in the spring, He had made quite a few loud outs and sent balls to the warning track but hadn't quite gotten one to fall yet. That changed Sunday, in the Cubs game against the San Francisco Giants. Tucker got a 2-1 fastball, and he didn't miss it. Tucker launched both his first hit and home run in a Cubs uniform, much to the delight of Cubs fans. 

It was a much-needed swing for not only the fans, but also for the guy who was 0-for-20 in his first (pre)season with a new team. It surely lifted a huge weight off the shoulders of the superstar right fielder, even if he'll never say so, and it will now allow him to play freely for the rest of the spring, knowing he got that first hit out of the way. The homer would be Tucker's last at-bat of the game, as he was replaced by Kevin Alcántara.

While we certainly can't be sure that Tucker is fully out of his mini-slump, the hope is that he will now really turn it on and perform like the MVP-caliber player he is. With the Tokyo Series just nine days away, Tucker and the rest of the team will certainly look to get and stay hot heading into the season opener.

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