Deja Vu with Nico Hoerner |
In May, Nico Hoerner was scratched from a lineup pregame due to hamstring tightness. Almost a week had passed, and Hoerner was neither back in the lineup nor on the IL. The Cubs recently went through that same song and dance after Hoerner was hit by a pitch and diagnosed with a broken hand over a week ago.
Hoerner’s first absence lasted from May 13-21, coinciding directly with the Cubs’ struggles beginning. During that span, instead of bringing up a replacement for Hoerner and placing him on the IL — the Cubs opted to roll with Nick Madrigal at second base while Miles Mastrobuoni played shortstop for the then-injured Dansby Swanson. The Cubs were 2-5 during that stretch. This time around, Hoerner was sidelined from June 7 to June 11, and the Cubs were 0-3 during that time frame as well. When the first injury occurred, Hoerner had a .275 average and an OPS of .762. In a little over a month, those numbers have dropped to .241 and .658, respectively. Hoerner is hitting just .143 over his last seven games, .163 over his last 15, and .194 over the last 30. His chase rate is up, his contact has been weaker — he has truly been a player the Cubs have needed more out of. While most of the fanbase has been harping on Ian Happ, Christopher Morel, Seiya Suzuki and Dansby Swanson to be better offensively (and some have) it seems many have ignored Hoerner’s momentous struggles. The Cubs’ timidness to place Hoerner on the IL has made you question whether or not Hoerner was truly healthy when he returned to action either time. Perhaps rushing back to stop losing skids has hurt Hoerner’s recovery or at least altered his swing in some way. Whether it was the Cubs or Hoerner who made the call to potentially come back from these injuries quickly is an unknown, but it is certainly costing them. Typically one of the hardest outs to get in the Cubs’ lineup has been an easy out over the last month — while the Cubs have struggled to score runs. The move, or lack thereof, is twofold. It appears the Cubs do not have a lot of confidence in shortstop prospect Luis Vazquez to handle the middle infield. Scouts rave about his ability to defend, and his bat hasn’t been that far behind. He is currently slashing .253/.347/.379 with his power numbers slightly down from last season. The reason you assume the Cubs are not confident in his bat lies in the fact that the Cubs were okay with Nick Madrigal and Miles Mastrobuoni in the lineup every day for a week as they waited for Hoerner’s tight hamstring to heal in May. Vazquez was brought up the day both Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner returned to the lineup — he had just one at-bat and played some innings in the field and pinch-ran once. Then, this time around, Vazquez posted on his Instagram story while the Cubs were in Tampa Bay that he was in Clearwater, Florida (near where Tampa Bay plays), and Hoerner was banged up—meanwhile, the Iowa Cubs were in Columbus. But once again, the Cubs elected not to bring up Vazquez and instead cleared Hoerner to continue playing with a broken bone in his hand. The bottom line is Hoerner needs to be better — but I wonder if his hand is stopping him from doing so.
