By Mark Ellis —
In the roar of Wrigley Field, where ivy-covered walls have witnessed a century of baseball drama, Kyle Tucker steps to the plate not just as “King Tuck,” the Chicago Cubs’ dynamic right fielder and 2025 National League MVP contender, but as a man who is serious about his Christian faith.
Traded from the Houston Astros in a blockbuster deal last December that sent shockwaves through the league, Tucker has exceeded expectations this season, with 25 home runs and 80 RBIs through June, leading the Cubs to a division lead and earning All-Star honors for the fourth straight year.
Yet, behind the spectacular catches and blasts to the outfield lies a story of surrender, service, and the quiet strength of his Christian walk.
Born in Tampa, Florida, in 1997, Tucker grew up swinging a bat left-handed—not his natural side—to mimic his older brother Preston. Preston held the Plant High School home run record with 29 until Kyle surpassed him and finished with 31, according to USA Today.
That brotherly bond, rooted in a family grounded in the Gospel, planted seeds of faith early. “My parents took us to church every Sunday, and it was there I first heard about a God who loves us enough to send His Son,” Tucker shared in a 2023 interview with Athletes in Action.
But it was during his rookie season with the Astros in 2018 that Tucker fully committed his life to Christ. “I was chasing the dream, but it felt empty without Him. One night in a hotel room, reading Romans 8:28, it hit me—God was working all things for good, even the setbacks,” he recounted in an Athletes in Action podcast in 2023. That moment, he says, transformed baseball from a career into a calling, a platform to reflect his faith in Jesus Christ.
In 2024, as the Astros’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award—the MLB honor for character and community service—he channeled his influence through the Kyle Tucker Foundation, which he founded in 2020 to support hospice care and pediatric cancer families. The foundation’s annual Hospice Heroes program honors frontline workers with ballpark suite days and $10,000 grants, drawing from Tucker’s own encounters with loss.
“Seeing families fight these battles reminded me of Jesus weeping with Mary and Martha at Lazarus’ tomb,” Tucker told Faith & Family Media in a 2024 feature. “Faith isn’t about avoiding pain; it’s about walking through it with hope.”
In July 2024 he partnered with MDMotivator to surprise a Houston family battling cancer with All-Star Game tickets and a $50,000 check, a gesture that raised over $200,000 for similar causes through matching donations, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The trade to Chicago last winter tested that faith like never before. Leaving the Astros—where he won a World Series ring in 2022, a Gold Glove in 2023, and led the AL in RBIs with 112—could have been difficult, but Tucker saw God’s hand in it. “Proverbs 3:5-6 became my anchor: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding,” he posted on Instagram after the deal, quoting the verse alongside a photo of Wrigley Field.
Now batting cleanup for a Cubs squad, Tucker has thrived, stealing 20 bases and making catches that earned him another Gold Glove finalist honor.
Off the field, he’s plugged into Chicago’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter, hosting Bible studies for young players and speaking at local youth camps about integrity amid fame. “Baseball’s a gift, but eternity’s the game-changer,” he told a group of teens at a May 2025 FCA event in Wrigleyville, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.
For Tucker, faith means stewarding his success in humility, through his reliance on Christ. In a league of eye-popping contracts, Tucker’s true wealth is the inheritance awaiting those who run the race with their eyes fixed on Jesus (1 Peter 1:4).
