The Chicago Cubs already had an idea of where they were headed with their star second baseman, but the plans have now been confirmed.
The 27-year-old Nico Hoerner underwent successful flexor tendon surgery on his right forearm this past October, to repair an injury that persisted throughout much of the 2024 season and hampered his performance.
The initial timeline for full recovery saw Hoerner possibly missing opening day, but being able to resume his starting role at some point early in the regular season.
In late February, it was announced that the middle infielder would definitely miss the two-game Japan series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 18 and 19, but would likely be ready for the domestic opening day on March 27.
Chicago Cubs Plans For Nico Hoerner Confirmed
That’s still the plan and now it’s been confirmed that he’ll playing some minor league games this week and beyond as his teammates are off in Japan.
“The Cubs plan on having Nico Hoerner begin playing in Minor League games this week in Arizona while the Cubs are in Japan as the goal remains to have him ready for domestic Opening Day series,” Tweeted Cubs Zone on social media, citing MLB.com Cubs beat writer Jordan Bastian.
The idea is that it will be much more beneficial to his game if he were to stick around and get some actual playing time, albeit at the minor league level, rather than sit as an inactive player in Japan cheering his team on. He played his first spring training game on Monday, manning second base against exhibition travel team the Asian Breeze.
Hoerner is Underrated and Overlooked
Hoerner, who remains one of the more underrated and overlooked players on the team, has been a high-level performer since taking his spot as a starter.
Since he became a full-time player in 2022, he’s earned the distinction of being one of the better contact hitters in the league. His batting average has been around the .280 mark in each of those seasons and he’s posted an impressive on base percentage of around .330 in that time as well. On the bases, he’s proven himself a top-tier threat, with 94 stolen bases in 436 games the last three seasons.
With the glove, he’s been stellar. He won a Gold Glove for his second base work in 2023 and is also capable of playing a very solid shortstop. In a pinch, he can also play some third base and outfield.
Despite his status as an undeniable asset, Hoerner had been the subject of trade rumors this offseason, especially as top prospect Matt Shaw’s role with the team was initially unclear.
Sacrificing Japan For A Healthy 2025
At the moment, though, second base is all Hoerner’s and the Cubs are happy to sacrifice his services for two games if it means a healthy rest of season.
“Five months after that surgery date is an aggressive end of it,” Hoerner told the Chicago Sun-Times back on February 28. “It was never the goal when I got surgery: Go to Japan. I think that would have been a bit of an unhealthy goal in that it puts me in a place to potentially push into a space that then impacts the rest of my season and the team’s season, which is the biggest thing. The biggest thing this time of year is playing baseball deep in October and winning there.”
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