It isn’t so much that Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner is changing anything when he steps into the batter’s box with runners in scoring position.
“It’s more just a feeling of importance, significance, focus,” Hoerner said in a recent conversation with the Sun-Times. “Obviously, I’m always giving my best, but I think those moments do bring the best out of me.”
Hoerner’s .391 batting average with runners in scoring position supports that notion. It was the sixth-highest mark in the majors entering Wednesday.
His overall numbers, which highlight his contact ability and defensive prowess, have put him in the All-Star conversation. But his ability to put the ball in play with runners on base has been an under-the-radar factor in the Cubs’ offensive success.
“What you love about Nico is he’s just himself,” manager Craig Counsell said this week. “This is his game, and it’s a little different than a lot of players right now, but he’s so good at some things that it makes it really valuable.”
Those things are being noticed in the All-Star race. When MLB released its first balloting update on Phase 1 of fan voting, Hoerner was No. 3 among National League second basemen with 354,745 votes.
He has a lot of ground to make up on the Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte (850,572) in the race to be named an All-Star starter. But he has a case to get in as a reserve player — selected via player ballot and commissioner’s-office picks.
Hoerner had the third-highest fWAR among NL second basemen, behind only the Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan, who came in at No. 4 in fan voting, and Marte. Hoerner led the group in Statcast’s fielding run value (5). And he had the third-highest batting average (.288) among qualified hitters in that position group.
Hurting his case is a lack of power. And he’ll bring up, unprompted, a desire to drive the ball more.
Hoerner has yet to homer this season. The leaders in the NL second-base All-Star race — Marte and the Dodgers’ Tommy Edman (510,451 votes) — are in double digits.
“It’s not a new thing,” said Hoerner, who has identified slugging as an area for growth. “We’ve had these same conversations for a long time. I’ve gone about it in a lot of different ways, whether it’s been mechanical or weight room or approach-wise.
“And there have been times I feel like I have lost a little bit of touch with the things that I’ve always done really well. So it’s a fine line when you’re playing every day. You want to continue to improve but also embrace the skills that make you who you are and get you to this place and make you a big-league starter because that’s a hard thing to achieve.”
Not to mention that the more contact-oriented skills that have always been part of Hoerner’s game have been especially valuable within the flow of the Cubs’ offense, which has been one of the best in the majors.
“We’ve all benefitted from each other having success,” Hoerner said. “And we don’t all do it in the same exact way. But I’m a more valuable player when I have guys on base, and the base hit is more valuable. And I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of great hitters in front and behind me, no matter where I’ve been in the lineup or who we’re facing.”
Hoerner has been so steady in his role that it’s easy to forget that his offseason and spring-training buildup were dictated by his recovery timeline from forearm surgery in October.
Hoerner missed the Tokyo Series but was back in the lineup for the domestic opener.
“Just proud of being available as much as I have been,” Hoerner said. “I think we oftentimes, as players, feel the things that we’re not doing well the strongest, which is part of why we keep going and improving. But it’s also important to acknowledge just being available and being a part of a winning team.”