PHOENIX — Nico Hoerner knew being ready for the Chicago Cubs opener in Japan was not a healthy goal.
As much as the Cubs second baseman wanted to be with the team in Tokyo last week for their first two regular-season games, staying back at the team’s complex in Mesa, Ariz., was the prudent move if we wanted to be able to play in their domestic-opening series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Even that wasn’t a guarantee after undergoing right flexor tendon surgery in October.
But Hoerner’s months of rehab paid off Thursday when he started in the Cubs’ 10-6 win, collecting two hits, an RBI, a walk and run scored while showing off the type of defense that should again make him among the best in the league at his position.
“We have so much tech, so many options, so many opinions, like, you can end up doing 20 different things in a day to supposedly heal yourself and really have no clue if anything’s doing anything so I got into some rabbit holes of that this offseason I think as most people do in rehab,” Hoerner said. “But as far as it is right now, it’s pretty simple on a day to day, and I’m really grateful for the staff and everything we have here that really made that possible.”
Hoerner didn’t wake up a 3 a.m. in Arizona to watch the Tokyo Series, instead catching the end of both games when he got up at 5 a.m. He admitted those games didn’t feel real in terms of counting in the standings from his outsider perspective but heard great things about the event from teammates.
Part of Hoerner’s decision to get the surgery centered on being able to play shortstop. Making throws from that position wasn’t viable with the injury he played through last year. He isn’t quite built up enough to back up Dansby Swanson yet as Hoerner continues to get his arm strength back and increases his capacity for more throws at a higher velocity. But he’s trending in the right direction through his pregame work.
“Sometimes you guys think we’re being coy, like, I don’t think we really had a sense of what the return would be, the hope would have been (the domestic opener),” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Thursday. “I always thought Japan would play out of the question, and he actually got closer than we thought.”
The Cubs will be cautious with Hoerner’s playing time early and look to give him games off, especially the first full week of the season when they play seven consecutive days. Nobody around the Cubs was surprised to see Hoerner back on the aggressive end of the rehab process, a testament to his diligence and work ethic.
“He comes in and he doesn’t get distracted by anything,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It was not fun telling him that he wasn’t going to Japan, but if anything for Nico it makes him go out and he doesn’t get distracted. He goes out and crushes that day and then moves forward. And that’s exactly what he did.”
The Cubs lineup becomes deeper and gains a high-contact hitter with Hoerner, who was slotted into the No. 6 spot Thursday. Ian Happ talked with Hoerner after his surgery and even then Happ could see there was no doubt he would be ready for this first series. Happ lauded Hoerner for being the first player at the complex every day during spring training and the last guy to leave, sticking around to watch every home spring game even though he didn’t play in one with the regulars until the final exhibition.
“Nobody sees all the work that he had to put in to get there,” Happ said. “He’s so far ahead of what the timeline was supposed to be for this. It’s a testament to who he is.
“I’ve seen it for a long time, but I can’t say enough just how much time and effort he puts in — he’s the ultimate teammate, and he cares.”
