The Chicago Cubs have prided themselves with their strength up the middle.
In center field, there’s elite defender Pete Crow-Armstrong, who may develop into the top glove-and-run player in all of baseball. At catcher, the Cubs brought in veteran glove man Carson Kelly to share time with the ever-improving Miguel Amaya. Then, there’s shortstop and second base, manned by Gold Glovers Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner, respectively.
Will Swanson and Hoerner Be Fully Back?
This offseason, both Swanson and Hoerner had surgery to correct lingering health issues that affected their performances. Their surgeries and the need for both to perform at an elite level this season make the infield tandem one of the biggest stories of the upcoming 2025 campaign.
On a team focused on postseason play, a healthy and productive Swanson and Hoerner duo would be an anchor of stability.
The big question is whether both can and will be part of that anchor.
Swanson’s Return As An Impact Player?
At the end of the 2024 season, Swanson acknowledged that he had been playing through an uncomfortable and game-altering sports hernia. He would undergo core surgery this past October to correct the issue.
Despite playing through pain, the 9-year veteran posted impressive numbers in the second half of the season, batting .281 while playing solid defense.
However, Swanson, who is headed into the third year of his seven-year, $177 million contract with the Cubs, has not lived entirely up to expectations when it comes to the multi-tool promise that earned him his deal. With a two-year batting average in the low .240s and just 38 combined home runs, the former all-star will have to boost his offensive output to go along with his dependable glove.
The hope is that repairing the lingering wear and tear will give the 31-year-old the all-around presence he had back with the Atlanta Braves.
“Being banged up for about the last year-and-a-half or so, being able to get back healthy again and to be able to put my best foot forward,” Swanson told the Marquee Sports Network’s Cole Wright. “Took a lot of time to do some mental work. Every offseason is different, and this one was obviously different with the surgery. I’m just looking forward to continue to build on a good offseason.”
Swanson being on the field every day is practically a given– and he’s not expected to have any downtime from his offseason surgery– but the Cubs are hoping that his presence will be more impactful headed into 2025.
Hoerner: Healthy And Steady As Ever?
Meanwhile, the almost criminally underrated and overlooked Hoerner will also be looking to hit the field as a healthy whole after a hampered 2025.
The 27-year-old underwent successful flexor tendon surgery on his right forearm, also in October, to repair an injury that lingered throughout much of the 2024 season.
Hoerner, whose timeline for return is less concrete than Swanson’s, brings his reputation as one of the sport’s top contact hitters to a lineup that hopes to be more potent with newcomer Kyle Tucker in the middle of it all.
Despite being the subject of trade rumors, Hoerner is focused on getting to 100% and being able to contribute. This year, though, he may be tasked to play more shortstop, to give Swanson a breather when needed. The Gold Glove second baseman also plays an elite shortstop and actually broke into the league playing that position.
His surgically repaired right arm, though, will have to be ready.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell has no clear timeline for when Hoerner will be able to play at full speed, but he’s confident that he’s not too far off.
“I’m not focused, nor is Nico focused, on, ‘I’m ready for this game or that game,’” Counsell told MLB.com. “He’s not going to miss much, if at all. That’s what I’d say. I’m confident in that. What Nico and I have talked about is stacking good days. Just keep on stacking good days, because when you look too far forward, you kind of forget about today.
“You stack a bunch of good days up, and that day’s going to be sooner than we all think. That’s what’s happened so far. The news has been all good so far.”
Hopefully for the Cubs, all of this positivity is reality-based. The team will need Swanson and Hoerner to be the assets they can be in any legit run at the playoffs.
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