Why Wrigley Field has turned into a hitter's worst nightmare -- and what it means for this October and beyond

""That is clobbered. Right-center field. That one's back, Garcia near the wall and ... he reaches out and makes the catch. And Tucker absolutely annihilated that. "There's a welcome-to-Wrigley Field moment.""

""The last two years, it's blown in, in the summer," veteran Cubs outfielder Ian Happ said. "When it's gotten hot, it's blown in. And that's basically the opposite of what it was traditionally. Now, when it's cool, it blows out. "There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason that we know of but it's been different.""

""That was an early one I can recall," the low-key Tucker said this week. "I hit it pretty good off of [Nathan] Eovaldi. It didn't go out.""

Several well-struck balls at Wrigley Field this season died on the warning track because wind more often blew in, reducing homers and limiting offense. Kyle Tucker hit a 104.6-mph, 29-degree launch-angle fly ball with an .880 expected batting average on April 7 that was caught at the wall by Adolis Garcia as a 17-mph infield wind prevented a home run. In 81 North Side games this year the wind blew in 51 times, blew out 19 times and was crosswind in 12. In 2024 the wind blew in 39 times, out 21 times and was crosswind in 21. Players and the head groundskeeper note the wind pattern has changed but cannot fully explain why.

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