Nicholas Mackie Hoerner (born May 13, 1997) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

second baseman and

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

for the Chicago Cubs of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

at Stanford University, and was selected by the Cubs in the first round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. He made his MLB debut in 2019.

Amateur career

Hoerner attended

Head-Royce School Head-Royce School (Head-Royce or HRS) is a private co-educational college-preparatory K-12 school in Oakland, California. The forerunner of Head-Royce was the Anna Head School for Girls in Berkeley, founded in 1887. Relocated to its current sit ...

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, where he played soccer, basketball, and baseball. He played for the varsity baseball team all four years of high school and in 2015, as a senior, batted .517 with six home runs, 30 RBIs, and 40 runs scored. He was not drafted out of high school in the

2015 Major League Baseball draft The 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks f ...

. Hoerner then enrolled at Stanford University to play

for the Stanford Cardinal. Nico Hoerner (27372214097) (cropped)

In 2016, as a freshman, Hoerner started 53 of Stanford's 54 games at second base, batting .254 with 53 hits, 24 RBIs, and eight doubles. After the season, he played in the

Northwoods League The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. The league is amateur, and players are not paid, so as to maintain their college el ...

where he hit .304 with two home runs, 31 RBIs, 11 stolen bases, and 12 doubles in 257 at-bats. As a sophomore at Stanford in 2017, Hoerner switched positions, moving to

. He started all 58 of Stanford's games that year and slashed .307/.357/.406 with 18 doubles, one home run, and 33 RBIs. Hoerner was named to the All-Pac-12 and All-Pac-12 Defensive teams. That summer, he played in the Cape Cod Baseball League with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox where he batted .301 with six home runs, 30 RBIs, 16 stolen bases and eight doubles, and was named a league all-star. As a junior in 2018, Hoerner batted .345 with two home runs, 40 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases and was named to the All-Pac-12 team for the second straight year.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Hoerner was selected 24th overall by the Chicago Cubs in the 2018 Major League Baseball draft and signed for a $2.72 million signing bonus. He made his professional debut with the

Arizona League Cubs The Arizona Complex League Cubs are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays it home games at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona. The team is composed mainly of player ...

was reassigned to the

Eugene Emeralds The Eugene Emeralds (nicknamed the Ems) are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays thei ...

in June, and was promoted to the

South Bend Cubs The South Bend Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in South Bend, Indiana, and play their home games at Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium. The team was o ...

in mid-July. However, he was placed on the disabled list on July 18 with a strained ligament in his left elbow, and was ruled out for the remainder of the regular season. In 14 games between the three teams prior to his injury, he hit .327 with two home runs, six RBIs, and six stolen bases. After the season, he was assigned to the

Mesa Solar Sox The Mesa Solar Sox are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Mesa, Arizona, at Sloan Park, which is also the spring training facility of the Chicago Cubs. The team was established ...

of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fille ...

. Hoerner began 2019 with the

Tennessee Smokies The Tennessee Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Kodak, Tennessee, a suburb of Knoxville. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They play at Smokies Stadium, directly off ...

. He was placed on the injured list on April 27 after being hit on his left wrist, and returned to play in early July. Over seventy games with the Smokies, he slashed .284/.344/.399 with three home runs, 22 RBIs, and eight stolen bases.

Chicago Cubs

Chicago selected Hoerner's contract and promoted him to the major leagues on September 9, 2019, making him the first player from his draft class to make it to the majors. He made his major league debut that night versus the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

. Hoerner got the start at shortstop and went 3-for-5 with four RBIs, including a single in his first at-bat against

Cal Quantrill Cal Paul Quantrill (born February 10, 1995) is a Canadian professional baseball pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for Stanford University. He was selected in the first round of the 201 ...

. Over twenty games for the Cubs, Hoerner batted .282 with three home runs and 17 RBIs. In a shortened 2020 season for the Cubs, Hoerner slashed .222/.312/.259 with 13 RBIs over 48 games. Hoerner struggled with oblique injuries in 2021, and appeared in only 44 games for the Cubs. Over 149 at-bats, he slashed .302/.382/.369 with ten doubles, 16 RBIs, and five stolen bases. During the Cubs' Opening Day game against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 7, 2022, Hoerner hit a two-run home run off of reigning NL Cy Young winner

Corbin Burnes Corbin Brian Burnes (born October 22, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was drafted by the Brewers in the fourth round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft, and mad ...

, the first home run of the

2022 MLB season The 2022 Major League Baseball season (MLB) was originally scheduled to begin on March 31 and end on October 2. The 2021–22 MLB lockout caused the season to be delayed by one week, starting on April 7. The regular season ended on October 5. Th ...

and Hoerner's first since 2019. Hoerner had a much improved 2022 season, missing far fewer games and appearing in 135 games. He made 517 plate appearance while slashing .281/.327/.410 with 22 doubles, ten homers, and 55 RBIs. Hoerner played 133 of those games at shortstop and finished second in the National League in Outs Above Average. After the Cubs signed free agent shortstop Dansby Swanson in December of 2022, it was anticipated that Hoerner would move to second base. On January 13, 2023, Hoerner agreed to a one-year, $2.525 million contract with the Cubs, avoiding salary arbitration.

References

External links

Stanford Cardinal bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoerner, Nico 1997 births Living people Baseball players from Oakland, California Major League Baseball shortstops Chicago Cubs players Stanford Cardinal baseball players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players Arizona League Cubs players Eugene Emeralds players South Bend Cubs players Tennessee Smokies players Mesa Solar Sox players Iowa Cubs players Madison Mallards players