Cubs' Nico Hoerner looks to continue stellar defensive play at second base
MESA, Ariz. (CBS) – Nico Hoerner is coming off his most productive season in the big leagues, but now the 2022 shortstop is the Cubs second baseman of the future.
As CBS 2 Sports Director Marshall Harris explained, the shift may be going away in 2023, but not before Hoerner settles into a new position that not really new to him.
Known for making steady contact, Hoerner avoided strikeouts at the fifth-best rate in the majors last season. But make not mistake, defense is what this Cub takes the most pride in.
"Especially double plays when you're working with a group of other guys that you're in a rhythm with is one of the best feelings in our sport and when you make a play that keeps runs off the board, your pitcher's excited," Hoerner said. "They only get to throw every five days. It totally changes their outing, things like that is definitely a lot to take pride in."
Hoerner's double play connection will look different this season. He'll be doing it from the other side, shifting from shortstop to second base to make room for new teammate Dansby Swanson and his seven-year, $177 million contract.
"I don't think it's that big of a challenge honestly," Hoerner said. "It's something that I've done before. I've played it for multiple years. I think shortstop is a little bit more natural for me, but definitely ready to play second base. All the things to improve on the positioning will be a little different this year. I think that will be fun, turning double plays is probably the biggest difference at second base. But a lot of it too is probably keeping the same mentality I had at short, which is being aggressive and athletic."
Cubs manager David Ross said, "Nico's an impressive human, right? Even playing a phenomenal shortstop for us last year, he's willing to take that move and that jump because he knows he wants to win and that's going to make us better. So his mentality never changes."
Hoerner would be available to spell Swanson at shortstop if needed, but that's not a common thing. Swanson led the league in games played each of the last two seasons, missing just two games out of 324. He played in all 162 in 2022.
