Cubs' Kyle Tucker, Ryan Pressly return to Daikin Park for first time since Astros traded them

HOUSTON (AP) — Kyle Tucker and Ryan Pressly returned to Daikin Park on Friday for the first time since the Houston Astros traded them to the Chicago Cubs during the offseason and were greeted by a video tribute before the start of the game.

The two stepped out of the Cubs dugout and tipped their caps to the fans while getting a standing ovation.

“Obviously, we are here to do our job and win some games, but it’s nice to at least catch up with some of the guys over there that I played with for awhile and been around, so it is cool in that sense” Tucker said earlier.

A three-time All-Star right fielder eligible for free agency after the season, the 28-year-old Tucker is hitting .287 with 16 home runs and 49 RBIs. He was swapped in December for outfielder Cam Smith, infielder Isaac Paredes and right fielder Hayden Wesneski.

Pressly, a 36-year-old right-hander, is 2-2 with five saves and a 3.90 ERA. The two-time All-Star closer was dealt in January for minor league right-hander Juan Bello.

Tucker was part of Astros teams that reached six straight AL Championship Series and caught the final out of the 2022 World Series against Philadelphia.

“There’s a lot of really good memories here,” Tucker said. “We had a lot of success playing in this city and on this field. It’s cool. The biggest thing is being around the guys in those moments.”

Pressly earned the save in Game 6 of the 2022 World Series.

“A lot of memories were made out on that field,” Pressly said. “A lot of lifetime friendships made on the other side as well. I always root for these guys. They were great teammates. I was super fortunate and blessed to share a clubhouse with a couple of those guys who are pretty much legends over there in this city.”

Houston entered an AL West-best 48-33 record, identical to the record of the NL Central-leading Cubs.

“Every time they lose someone, they always seem to replace them with someone who is really good and kind of pick up the baton right behind them and keep winning. It’s what they’ve been doing for the past decade now," Pressly said of the Astros. "It was fun to watch when I was on the team, but now that I’m not on the team, it’s not fun to watch. It’s always been a good team. It’s going to be fun.”

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Chicago Cubs' Kyle Tucker rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Shreyas Iyer was provisionally named in India’s squad on Saturday for the home one-day international series against New Zealand starting Jan. 11.

India will host the Black Caps in a white-ball engagement — three ODIs and five T20s — in the build-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Iyer returns to the international fold after sustaining a spleen injury during an ODI against Australia in Sydney last October.

His selection is subject to fitness clearance from BCCI’s medical team and he will return as India’s vice-captain for the three-match series.

Skipper Shubman Gill also returns, after he missed the ODI series against South Africa in December. He had a neck spasm in the test series earlier, and subsequently played in the T20s against the Proteas.

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Verma missed out. Gaikwad had scored a maiden ODI hundred against South Africa in Visakhapatnam.

Rishabh Pant is retained as second keeper-batter behind Lokesh Rahul, who had stood in as captain against the Proteas.

Star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had both participated in the domestic List A tournament — Vijay Hazare Trophy — and return to the international stage for the ODIs.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya is fit, but not sufficiently enough to bowl 10 overs in an ODI. Thus, he has been rested further ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup (in India and Sri Lanka) starting Feb. 7. Nitish Kumar Reddy is included in the squad.

Pacer Mohammed Siraj returns to lead the bowling lineup with Jasprit Bumrah rested again. Siraj had missed the South Africa series because of workload management.

The three ODIs will be played in Vadodara (Jan. 11), Rajkot (Jan. 14) and Indore (Jan. 18), with the five-match T20 series starting Jan. 21.

Squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

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FILE - Captain of Punjab Kings Shreyas Iyer addresses a news conference on the eve of the final match of Indian Premier League at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)