On their quest to make it back to the playoffs yet again, it just happens to look like the Chicago Cubs have found a superstar in their midst. Albeit in a small sample size, it looks like Nice Hoerner is yet another member of the crop of young ball players that are looking to take over the game as we know it.
With the expansion of rosters making it so 40 players can be up for one club at a time once the first of September hits the calendar, teams are able to bring up rookies while chasing their postseason dreams. While not all teams have the types of players like Hoerner just waiting in the wings, it still affords franchises valuable opportunities to let their minor league talent eat up some playing time.
Drafted 24th overall in the first round of the 2018 MLB draft, Hoerner was a very seasoned prospect, having attended Stanford University for school. The utilityman, who is more than capable of playing shortstop, second base and even some center field for the Cubs, played in rookie ball and went right up to Double-A ball in 2019, showing how fast of a riser he really is.
Now Hoerner did spend some time down at the Single-A level as well in 2018 after he was drafted, but he was put on the fast track this season, potentially on a plan to help increase his chances of helping out the big-league roster with his fast ascent through the system. Ranked in the top 100 prospects across all of baseball by most trusted baseball outlets, Hoerner’s pedigree is very impressive, showing why he was given the fast track up to the majors.
Hoerner has been on the big-league roster for seven games so far, so while he has not been up long enough to make a huge dent on the Cubs’ playoff chase, he has been able to gain valuable playing time while helping this team fill up some innings and give some veterans a break.
Seven games, 32 plate appearances, 27 at-bats, eight runs scored, 11 hits, two home runs and 11 runs driven in is all that Hoerner has brought to the big leagues; ‘is all’ is a bit of an understatement, as you really cannot ask more of a rookie who was just drafted out of college last June.
With Anthony Rizzo out for potentially the rest of the regular season due to a sprained ankle, Hoerner could see more time with the shuffling of players around to make up for the big hole that is now in the starting lineup. Even if he is still relegated to bench duties because of a player like Victor Caratini sliding in at first, then Hoerner will have an increased role off of the bench, especially with the team being down one of their better bench players.
As well as he has been playing, Hoerner could very well play himself into a 25-man roster spot when the playoffs get here, which would be the absolute icing on the cake of what has been a fast rise for the Stanford rookie to get to the major leagues.
Follow Us
Subscribe