{"id":672023,"date":"2026-04-10T00:12:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T00:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/672023\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T00:12:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T00:12:42","slug":"cubs-nico-hoerner-staying-true-to-himself-leading-to-early-season-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/672023\/","title":{"rendered":"Cubs’ Nico Hoerner staying true to himself leading to early-season success"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 Cubs<\/a> second baseman Nico Hoerner was ready for the opening week of the season to end.<\/p>\n

The pageantry of Opening Day coupled with the day off Friday threw off his rhythm. Hoerner also had to deal with his contract extension, which cements him as part of the Cubs\u2019 core. Once he agreed to a six-year, $141 million extension \u2014 the third-richest contract among second basemen in total value \u2014 he could exhale.<\/p>\n

That extension validated Hoerner and other contact-oriented infielders, showing there is more to the game than hitting home runs. Hoerner is an elite defender and baserunner with valuable contact skills. Though he has only 37 career home runs, the Cubs showed how much they value him.<\/p>\n

Instead of resting on his laurels after the extension, Hoerner has shown no signs of slipping. He\u2019s playing at the All-Star level he displayed in the playoffs last season, when he batted .419 with a .973 OPS.<\/p>\n

Hoerner entered Thursday tied with three other position players for the best WAR in baseball at 1.2. Even though it\u2019s early, the way he\u2019s achieving his numbers is sustainable. Hoerner is batting .333 with a 1.000 OPS and a team-leading six doubles. Going into the Pirates series Friday, Hoerner has recorded two-plus RBI in three consecutive games.<\/p>\n

Hoerner got the Cubs\u2019 6-2 win Wednesday started with a leadoff homer. He battled in the at-bat, fouling off good pitches before getting a sweeper he could turn on for damage. Left fielder Ian Happ pointed to Hoerner\u2019s fifth-inning RBI double that squeaked past Jonathan Aranda as the perfect summation of Hoerner as a hitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis speed plays into him being able to create extra-base hits,\u201d Ian Happ told the Sun-Times. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen some doubles down the left-field line. You saw the one [Wednesday], which is vintage Nico, past the first baseman in a spot where it drives in a run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Numbers with runners in scoring position can be volatile, but not for Hoerner. He\u2019s a career .317 hitter with RISP. Hoerner attributes his success in those situations to his mentality. As the Cubs\u2019 offense became more productive against the Rays after a slow start, Hoerner capitalized by bringing runners home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just embracing the moment,\u201d Hoerner said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Hoerner\u2019s teammates also have deep respect for his preparation and professionalism. Outfielder Michael Conforto has been around a myriad of talented players and still had high praise for Hoerner after seeing his relentlessness up close.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s as good a player as I\u2019ve played with,\u201d Conforto told the Sun-Times. \u201cHe\u2019s just as meticulous about what he does and intense. And it\u2019s not like he just does his own thing and we don\u2019t see him. He\u2019s still with the boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoerner is obsessive about his preparation but not reclusive. It\u2019s that steadfast dedication that\u2019s behind Hoerner\u2019s successful career and strong start to the season. He had been susceptible to the power craze before.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had stretches where I\u2019ve thought of hitting for power as taking chances and big swings. That\u2019s taken me away from some of my strengths,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\"Cubs<\/p>\n

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The Cubs totaled 15 runs in the last two games, a boon after a slow start to the season.<\/p>\n

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\"Washington<\/p>\n

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Jameson Taillon and Hunter Harvey were first-round draft picks who had to deal with elbow injuries early in their career.<\/p>\n

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\"Los<\/p>\n

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Lopes was a four-time All-Star during his 10 years with the Dodgers. He played in four World Series, winning the 1981 championship. He also played for the Cubs in 1984-86.<\/p>\n

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read<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner was ready for the opening week of the season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672024,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,138,24,4245,161,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-672023","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-cubs","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-cubs","11":"tag-chicagocubs","12":"tag-cubs","13":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116377523446871902","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}