The Cubs are set to call up top infield prospect Nico Hoerner, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune suggested earlier this morning that Hoerner could be in line to get the call with both Javier Baez and Addison Russell dealing with injuries. The Cubs will need to make a 40-man roster move in order to accommodate the promotion.
Hoerner, 22, was the No. 24 overall selection in the 2018 draft and is widely considered to be among the game’s 100 best prospects. The Stanford product hit .284/.344/.399 with three home runs, 16 doubles, three triples and eight steals through 294 plate appearances in the pitcher-friendly Double-A Southern League this season. Beyond the leaguewide hitting environment, Hoerner’s production in Double-A is all the more impressive when considering that he played in just 14 games below the Double-A level before being rather aggressively promoted there by the Chicago organization. He did turn in an outstanding .337/.362/.506 showing through 94 plate appearances in last year’s Arizona Fall League as well.
Currently, Hoerner ranks 40th on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list. He also checked in 47th on the midseason re-rank at MLB.com and 51st over at Fangraphs. He’s an extremely high-contact hitter, having fanned in fewer than 10 percent of his professional plate appearances, and he draws praise for his above-average speed as well. There’s some debate as to which middle-infield position Hoerner will ultimately play at the MLB level, but the Cubs have given him quite a bit more time at shortstop early in his minor league career.
Hoerner didn’t need to be added to the 40-man roster to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft this winter, so the Cubs are being more aggressive with his service clock than they have with previous prospects (most notably Kris Bryant). Chicago, though, saw Russell go down with a potential concussion yesterday and lost Baez to a hairline fracture in his thumb a day prior. The Cubs are 4.5 games back of the Cardinals for the NL Central lead and suddenly have a mere 1.5-game lead over the scorching Diamondbacks for the second Wild Card spot in the National League, giving them even greater reason for urgency.
It seems unlikely that Hoerner will simply be in the big leagues to stay from this point forth. He’s barely a year removed from being drafted and has yet to suit up for a single game of activity at the Triple-A level. An assignment to Iowa to begin next season would make sense, though now that he’s on the 40-man roster, Hoerner has at least put himself in a position to try to force the team’s hand and keep him in the Majors. Should he indeed play his way into a long-term spot on the roster, he’d be controllable through at least the 2025 season and become arbitration-eligible in the 2022-23 offseason. That said, it still seems likelier that he’ll get some Triple-A time next season, and he’d only need to spend about five weeks there for the Cubs to push his path to free agency back to the 2026-27 offseason.
Well, that’s a little earlier than I expected him to be called up.
Desperate times call for desperate measures
The wheels are coming off.
The ship has hit an iceberg and is sinking rapidly.
3-4 4 rbi only in 6th inning . Ship might be smooth sailing
An especially appropriate quote regarding the Cubs health concerns at SS. That phrase has long been attributed to ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates. lol
Baez is out for the year. And Russell took a ball off the face yesterday. There arent really other options at SS.
What paper do you write for inept? I must have missed that. Baez is “out for the year”….
Thumb fracture and it’s September 9th. Not much math needed to deduce that his return, at best, is very highly questionable.
Exactly. Time frame on hairline fractures is 6-8 weeks. There’s 3 weeks left in the season…
Papers are saying Baez may be out for the rest of the regular season. Should be an announcement later today I believe on a time table
Sources?
Key word, “May”
In denial? Baez isn’t going to magically heal his thumb in one week
Nico also had a hair line this year. Out Apr 23- late June. That is 2 months of recovery.
Baez most likely wouldn’t be added until Late October. If they last that long.
Looks like math isn’t one of Bane’s strengths either.
I have some more key words for you Bane, “your an idiot”
*You’re an idiot, Petriooo.
Looks like writing, humor, trolling and insults isn’t your strengths either.
Where’s the proof?
Baller
What the ****? This is a big surprise
Spark needed
More like SS needed… Baez is out for the year with a fractured thumb, and Russell took a ball off the face yesterday.
Baez may be back for playoffs if Cubs get there. nobody has ruled him out and javy with a sore thumb is better than the alternative
In Jim Mora voice…”playoffs?!?!?!”
You severely underestimate the effects of a thumb injury.
It’s a little more than a “sore” thumb.
Yep a little hard to grip a bat with a thumb fracture. Also, at least it is not his throwing hand but a healthy thumb helps an infielder to hold onto a ball in his glove.
Priggs89: The Cubs may have as well. Baez had been complaining about his thumb for nearly a week before the brass though it might be a good idea to have it checked out further via an MRI. They did have his thumb checked out with an X-ray soon after he left the Sunday, September 1st game which usually confirms a hairline fracture. In this case the image came back negative. Perhaps that was due to swelling or possibly Baez did something later to exacerbate the injury.
I could see them running Zo/Nico/Rizzo/Castellinos/Schwarber/Contreras/Heyward/Bote for a few games. Bryant is dealing with Knee issues also so this was a bigger issue than just 2 SS down.
Love this kid always thought he has the stuff to be at this level faster then most didn’t expect it would be this year but,should be exciting to see if he can live up to the hype this soon
An extremely high character player who will be an instant favorite for Cubs fans… Nico Congrats!
Doug Dascenzo 2.0
Where’s the proof?
With the black hole at 2B, it’s not inconceivable that he sticks next year.
This makes a lot of sense with one of the weakest farm systems, a mature team in a win-now mode, and the loss of two middle infielders. Might be a bit soon, but this guy sounds like a gamer and the team’s future isn’t likely to be better than its current situation.
2nd cousin, twice removed of Bob Ho(e)rner
Good to know should the White Sox pursue Nico as a future free agent!
Would make a great option for 2B/leadoff hitter next year
Yes, Nick Madrigal would be a great option for 2B/leadoff some time in 2020. Wait, wrong Pac 10 team/Chicago prospect.
Nico Hoerner would be an obvious choice to play 2B and leadoff for the Cubs in 2020 if he produces down the stretch considering the lack of options the northsiders currently have for that role.
As for Nick Madrigal, he is a stud and should be a perennial contender for both the AL Gold Glove Award and AL Batting Championship with the White Sox beginning in 2020. Where he hits in the batting order is is still a question mark considering the White Sox do have other options for the top two spots of their lineup including Luis Robert, Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada. I’ve also debated with some White Sox bloggers who are advanced analytic geeks and insist that Madrigal should hit #9.
Since I fall into the camp of a more traditional approach to batting order construction my preference would be for Madrigal to hit #2 as the prototypical grunt who has plate patience, makes extraordinary contact, hits to all fields and rarely ever strikes out. His 30+ SB potential also factors into the equation.
As for Hoerner in 2020, he could fill either the leadoff or #2 slot for the Cubs depending on who they might acquire this offseason. If they can manage to snag an established leadoff man like Whit Merrifield who can hit and run then Hoerner would slot in nicely at #2.
FYI: It’s been the Pac-12 since 2011
They do better with math out west. The Big-10 still hasn’t figured that out with 14 teams and counting!
the service time issue has just been answered with “why would theo and Jedd care about where Nico is 6 years from now”. Neither of them will still be in Chicago (at least on the North side) so it is an all in mode from here on out.
Your take is silly. The Cubs have been notorious for playing the MLB service time game which might eventually cost them with the departure of Kris Bryant in free agency if he isn’t traded before 2021.
Adding Nico Hoerner for the final 3 weeks of 2019 doesn’t necessarily mean the Cubs are punting on his service time. They could just as easily stash him at AAA Iowa for that additional amount of time in 2020 and hold off on his promotion until some time in May as Steve Adams already suggested.
Funny how they erased the comments from the earlier Russell article. Gee I wonder why? No comments allowed now?
It instantly attracted the braindead, like you
Needed to happen. You cannot have Bote play an extended period at SS if you want to remain competitive. Good chance Nico is up next year at 2b anyway.
Especially if Bryant can’t play every day and you have to then stick Happ at 3B.
There’s your leadoff hitter.
he’ll be batting 7 or 8, no way for the put him anywhere near the top
If he starts, I think he will bat 9th the way Joe brought Russell and Almora along at first.
funny way to spell Madrigal
This is what jim Hendry did with starlin Castro. to save Face. He knew he was gone. So he called him up. Unfortunately for nico Hoerner he could start his career 6 for 6 with the cycle and because maddon is his manager he’ll be benched for 4 games after. Then his next start. Hit for the home run cycle and be benched for a week.
More like…EL MAGO G9NE hahahahaha
Yes, gone. Like the White Sox playoff chances for the next 5 years.
ElMagoN9Ne, the same key words I used to describe Banesays apply to you as well.
Nico has the pedigree…started at ss for USC Prior to the draft. That being said, he’s got a head start on younger prospects. Now it’s up to him and he just might run with it, especially with 2b wide open for 2020.
He’s from Stanford, not USC
World Series MVP
Money will fix all of this
A bit surprised it wasn’t Trent Giambrone who is R5 eligible this December.
The best thing for Cubs fans to have happen this year since any contender will be destroyed by the Dodgers and Houston, is to completely miss the playoffs. With the new Cubs network coming, the Rickets cannot accept failure next year. They will trade and dump all the underperforming players like Russel, Schwarber, Happ and possibly Bryant. Clear up some payroll and sign Cole or Strasburg if he opts out which I don’t think he will. They could try to keep Castellanos and fix that bullpen. Lot of arms but they have the cash. If the want people to pay for their games they sure as heck ain’t gonna tank.
Wrigley is full no matter what, people will always pay to see the Cubs.
Wrigley is but casual fans will not pay extra money to watch them on tv
They don’t even stick around for the 8th inning. Had friends in fron NY and they were aghast at how the place had cleared out after the 7th inning stretch with the Cubs down.
chicagofan1978, the cubs will never commit to another rebuild as long as the tickets sell and the cubs post a winning record. It’s just not Theo’s style, especially since the window to getting anything in return for most of their position players closed two years ago. The cubs are stuck with their overrated players. Bryant will most likely be traded during the last year of his contract.
Bryant to the White Sox? He’d look good in Left. Or Roght.
You are neglecting one very important name in the vast list of potential departures: “Genius” Joe Maddon. Maybe Theo Epstein joins him and goes back to his beloved Red Sox. I’m not certain the Cubs can trust Theo anymore with the overhaul you suggest considering his past couple of offseasons.
I will personally volunteer to drive each of them out of town, especially “Maddunce”.
Panic in Detroit
Hoerner is going to be the future young face of the Cubs! If Baez needs to have surgery expect the Cubs to move Bryant this offseason to free up money and start fixing their farm system. Bryant can get the Cubs a few good pitching prospects. The Cubs have to make a decision with keeping either Baez or Bryant after 2021.
How does thumb surgery for Javier Baez affect Kris Bryant’s status this offseason?
Additionally, trading Bryant would leave the Cubs with a hole at 3B. Shifting Baez to the hot corner would be a waste of his enormous defensive talent. Filling Bryant’s shoes with David Bote or Ian Happ doesn’t sound all that appealing either.
Of course, if the Cubs are willing to throw a ton of money at pending Nationals free agent Anthony Rendon this offseason that would change the equation and open up a world of possibilities including the long rumored trade of Bryant to the Mets for a package featuring SP Noah Syndergaard which does make sense for both teams.
Both Baez and Bryant hit the free agent market the same year! There is no way the Cubs can manage to keep them both while filling in other needs like pitching! Bryant does have value for a team with prospects and looking to compete in the next two years. A team like the Braves can be a team the Cubs are willing to talk about Bryant.
That still doesn’t address the question regarding a potential Javier Baez thumb surgery and its impact on Kris Bryant this offseason. Since there has been no reported ligament damage any thumb surgery would be highly unlikely. Even it was necessary no one is suggesting a prolonged rehab with a thumb that lingers well into the 2020 season. It’s not TJ surgery.
10 points to the chap/lady who edited Nico Hoerner’s wiki page. Good show.