How soon can Hoerner replace Russell?

garapp

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I was really happy at first that the cubs wanted to bring Russell back

Not so much anymore

Hoerner looks like he belongs
 

beckdawg

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I'd be surprised if Nico is in the majors before 2020.
 

chibears55

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Depends on when they want to start his clock..

If he hits , he'll fly up through the system this year and could be up next April
 

CSF77

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He should start in AA. 2020 would be a early guess. I doubt that they will need him this year with their current depth and Short in AA who is also a quality prospect.
 

anotheridiot

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I thought he was projected to be a 2Bman in the majors, so HE wont replace Russell.
 

CSF77

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I think that they might test him at CF this year some. I believe he will be in the mix but it would be between Russell and Almora keeping him off their positions.
 

anotheridiot

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I think that they might test him at CF this year some. I believe he will be in the mix but it would be between Russell and Almora keeping him off their positions.

Yeah, I gotta agree with this, since otherwise Almora might get too much playing time splitting time with Heyward and Happ.
 

CSF77

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Yeah, I gotta agree with this, since otherwise Almora might get too much playing time splitting time with Heyward and Happ.

In all fairness he gained time when he was hot and lost it when he wasn't. He hit .230 towards the end.

Not to mention he is even worse than Javy at taking walks. So low power, split platoon favored to the lesser half. All he really has going is 4th OF upside.

Until he proves other wise it gets old listening to fans over rating him.
 

Diehardfan

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So, after a handful of minor league games and 4 ST AB's Hoerner is good to go north. "he belongs" LOL, gotta love March baseball fans....
 

CSF77

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So, after a handful of minor league games and 4 ST AB's Hoerner is good to go north. "he belongs" LOL, gotta love March baseball fans....

I doubt anyone with common sense feels like he would break camp just because of a 3-3 game. That is called impulsive reasoning.

A fair estimate is AA seeing some flexibility primarily a SS. AAA by June. And that is best case here.
 

TL1961

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In all fairness he gained time when he was hot and lost it when he wasn't. He hit .230 towards the end.

Not to mention he is even worse than Javy at taking walks. So low power, split platoon favored to the lesser half. All he really has going is 4th OF upside.

Until he proves other wise it gets old listening to fans over rating him.

Flip that - Almora hit when playing regularly, and didn't when he was splitting time and rarely starting.

Unless somebody breaks out and proves to be a stud in CF, I am tired of giving Joe more toys to play with. This "everybody needs to have the same number of innings and at bats" is getting old.

I loved the versatility and interchangeability, but it gets to the point where he won't let anyone get into a rythym.
 

anotheridiot

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In all fairness he gained time when he was hot and lost it when he wasn't. He hit .230 towards the end.

Not to mention he is even worse than Javy at taking walks. So low power, split platoon favored to the lesser half. All he really has going is 4th OF upside.

Until he proves other wise it gets old listening to fans over rating him.

So, your reasoning, no matter how bad a veteran goes, (rizzo 1-31 stint, multiple Heyward slumps) you gotta play the vet to let him get out of it, but sit the young player. If 33% of the time is not giving him enough time off, (thats already splitting time with Heyward and Happ) you want him to sit where he gets 25% of the playing time instead? Are you sure you are not Lou Pinella, he took goads of credit for picking and choosing when the young player would succeed. Maybe just giving Almora 1 platoon guy would raise numbers instead of adding yet another to the mix. People do not see the personal side of a guy going 3-4, making spectacular defensive plays, game winning hits, and then sitting the next day.
 

Diehardfan

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I doubt anyone with common sense feels like he would break camp just because of a 3-3 game. That is called impulsive reasoning.

A fair estimate is AA seeing some flexibility primarily a SS. AAA by June. And that is best case here.

I'd be real interested to know what possessed you to post something that is so incredibly, blatantly obvious. Did you not read the OP? Or maybe you just feel compelled to post something/anything every single day.
 

CSF77

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Flip that - Almora hit when playing regularly, and didn't when he was splitting time and rarely starting.

Unless somebody breaks out and proves to be a stud in CF, I am tired of giving Joe more toys to play with. This "everybody needs to have the same number of innings and at bats" is getting old.

I loved the versatility and interchangeability, but it gets to the point where he won't let anyone get into a rythym.

False

https://www.fangraphs.com/statsplits.aspx?playerid=14109&position=OF&season=2018

Monthly splits were pretty equal. .319 first half. .232 2nd.

He performed at this level and trying to find excuses gets old.

As far as a hitter goes he has little power. Walks at a 5% rate. OBA .330 on avg.

He is Javy with no power.
 

CSF77

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I'd be real interested to know what possessed you to post something that is so incredibly, blatantly obvious. Did you not read the OP? Or maybe you just feel compelled to post something/anything every single day.

I was actually agreeing with you. Sorry if it came across wrong. The OP was a monkey
 

CubsFaninMN

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In re Nico coming up this year for more than a cup of coffee in September, y'all will recall that, in 2015, Schwarber came up for one 6-game road trip against AL teams. There had been a lot of talk about Kyle, people wondering when he would come up. He was brought up for that road trip solely because the Cubs wanted someone who could DH, and the bullpen was dealing with a guy on the DL. It made sense to get Schwarbs a quick look at pitching in The Show.

But, when the press asked Joe if there was any way in the world Schwarber would stay with the big league club after that quick look, he stated very definitely "There is no way. This was a special scheduling thing. He will not be promoted to the major league club permanently this season, period."

A month later, he was promoted to the big league club. His performance was just too strong to ignore.

So, if for some reason Nico comes up, even for a very short period to cover someone who goes on the DL, he can always play himself onto the lineup if given a chance. Schwarbs is a good case in point of how it can be done.

-Doug
 

beckdawg

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In re Nico coming up this year for more than a cup of coffee in September, y'all will recall that, in 2015, Schwarber came up for one 6-game road trip against AL teams. There had been a lot of talk about Kyle, people wondering when he would come up. He was brought up for that road trip solely because the Cubs wanted someone who could DH, and the bullpen was dealing with a guy on the DL. It made sense to get Schwarbs a quick look at pitching in The Show.

But, when the press asked Joe if there was any way in the world Schwarber would stay with the big league club after that quick look, he stated very definitely "There is no way. This was a special scheduling thing. He will not be promoted to the major league club permanently this season, period."

A month later, he was promoted to the big league club. His performance was just too strong to ignore.

So, if for some reason Nico comes up, even for a very short period to cover someone who goes on the DL, he can always play himself onto the lineup if given a chance. Schwarbs is a good case in point of how it can be done.

-Doug

Think you're talking about entirely different cases. Schwarber hit .600/.625/1.350 over 24 PAs in A- in 2014, .361/.448/.602 over 96 in A and .302/.393/.560 over 191 in A+ all in his debut. He was literally good enough to start in AA after being drafted. He then hit .320/.438/.579 in 273 PAs in AA and .343/.477/.714 in 44 PAs at AAA before getting called up. He wasn't just hitting for an absurd average. He wasn't just posting crazy on base rates. He wasn't just slugging. He literally had it all. The lowest OPS he had at any of those stops was .952 at A+ which is freaking nuts.

With Nico it's kinda pointless using his debut stats because unlike Schwarber he didn't post more than 28 PAs at R, A- or A. That being said given the stats he did have he at the very least was good enough to be in A+. Best way to judge him statistically is probably the AFL where he hit .337/.362/.506 over 94 PAs. The numbers were decent and AFL is typically close to AA competition level but the big things that stand out were his 2% walk rate and his .169 ISO. While his .500 slugging looks good that's largely cuz he hit .337. A .170 ISO is considered above average but keep in mind the AFL is a hitter friendly league and its not like he dominated the league in the way Schwarber dominated AA. Schwarber's OPS for AA was 1.017 compared to the AFL stint for Hoener who was at .868 and the southern league is more neutral to hitters than the AFL.

Now sure Nico isn't the same kind of hitter as Schwarber is. And I'm not trying to tear him down here but the reason he's going to stay in the minors for awhile is the reason he lasted to the cubs pick. That's namely his power. It's clearly evident he has a great bat to ball approach. The question was developing his power. And that likely requires some retooling of a swing(some supposedly already happened) such that he hits more fly balls.

And honestly I'm not sure why people are rushing it. I mean sure if he hits like Bryant or Schwarber did with crazy avg/obp/slg numbers then call him up. But it's INCREDIBLY uncommon for guys to debut in the majors in less than 2 years. Hell Bryant took almost 2 and the only reason Schwarber debuted a year after being drafted was there was literally no point in him being in the minors. He's a career .334/.432/.619 hitter in the minors.
 

garapp

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Hoerner WAS a number 1 draft choice.

He DOES belong.
 

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