In Dansby Swanson’s absence, Nico Hoerner slides over to short and reminds everyone he’s a Gold Glover, too

When Dansby Swanson went down with a strained oblique, it fell to Nico Hoerner to man shortstop and keep the Cubs’ best-in-baseball defense churning without one of its top contributors.

But, hey, remember that Hoerner is a two-time Gold Glover, too.

Hoerner won those awards in 2023 and 2025 as the Cubs’ everyday second baseman. Swanson has collected the same hardware in 2022 with the Braves and 2023 with the Cubs.

But Hoerner’s no stranger to short, having played it coming up through the minors and even for an entire big-league season the year before the Cubs signed Swanson.

If that experience wasn’t recent enough for you, however, then you’ll just have to check the video.

Hoerner is one of those defensive dudes, no matter where he’s playing, and he delivered one of the highlights of the season with a jaw-dropping catch Wednesday against the Brewers.

‘‘Does it surprise anybody?’’ Swanson said Friday. ‘‘Of course, he’s going to make [the catch]. He’s so good at whatever he does, really. I’ve had zero doubts that this would be any different.’’

That’s the theme of the Cubs’ responses when they’ve been asked about Hoerner’s temporary move to short.

That it’s a talking point at all is a testament to the sort of difference-maker Swanson has been. Former Padres manager Mike Shildt said Swanson ‘‘almost single-handedly beat us with his glove’’ in the National League wild-card series last season.

But while the Cubs are at their best defensively with Swanson at short, there seemingly has been little drop-off with Hoerner there.

They haven’t slowed down as far and away the best defensive team in the majors, starting Friday leading baseball in defensive runs saved (105; next-best is 75), outs above average (63; next-best is 38) and fielding run value (64; next-best is 33.3).

‘‘It doesn’t really feel like much is really different,’’ center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said Thursday. ‘‘No shade to Dansby. Nico’s showing everybody that he can be a big-league shortstop at the everyday clip, as well. Nico’s been nails.’’

‘‘If there’s another guy in this league I want playing shortstop, it’s Nico Hoerner, so there’s not much to complain about with that,’’ first baseman Michael Busch said late last month. ‘‘Dansby has shown what he’s capable of, taking over a game. To be honest, I don’t think we’re missing much.’’

They’re not missing nothing, of course, and Swanson’s value goes beyond what he does in the field.

Not only does he still rank fifth on the team with 18 home runs, despite being out since mid-August, but he has been described as someone who makes those unquantifiable contributions to a championship-caliber group.

‘‘One thing that Dansby does, in the clubhouse and in the locker room, his presence carries weight,’’ Busch said during a road trip on which Swanson stayed back to work in Chicago. ‘‘He’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever been around, thinking about himself, thinking about others, thinking about the game, thinking about how to win. He thinks about all those things at a different level from a lot of guys.

‘‘The locker-room presence is one thing you kind of miss with him [not here].’’

The Cubs aren’t just good at defense; they’re built around it. And the double-play combo of Swanson and Hoerner, which has logged so much time together since Swanson arrived in 2023, is as good as it gets.

‘‘When you play with someone long enough, there almost becomes this unsaid communication,’’ Swanson said. ‘‘Me and Nico don’t even have to really say it; we just kind of look at each and just give a signal, and we know.’’

There has been an understandable learning curve with Hoerner and rookie Pedro Ramirez, who has taken over second-base duties and has been praised all season for being mature beyond his years.

But the defense hasn’t stopped humming.

The Cubs can thank Hoerner, who has made the loss of their starting shortstop in the middle of a playoff race not as big a deal as it might have been.

‘‘Nico’s really good over there,’’ left fielder Ian Happ said late last month. ‘‘We have all the confidence in the world that Nico can play shortstop.

‘‘We’re pretty lucky, as a team, to have that as the backup option.’’