The Cubs announced that infielder Nico Hoerner underwent right flexor tendon surgery on October 11, with Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune among those to relay the news on X. The club hasn’t yet provided an estimated timeline for his recovery.
The news comes out of nowhere, as there was no prior indication there was anything wrong with Hoerner’s throwing arm. He didn’t go on the injured list at any point in 2024, playing in 151 games. He did miss a bit of time with hamstring tightness in May and he also suffered a hand fracture from a hit-by-pitch in June, but was back in the lineup after a few days off.
His arm strength has tailed off in recent years, however, which was perhaps a warning sign. In the 2020-22 seasons, he averaged between 81 and 83 miles per hour on his throws from second base. That dropped to 78.1 mph last year and 75.1 mph in 2024.
Hoerner is coming off his third straight season of fairly consistent production, with above-average contributions on offense, defense and on the basepaths. At the plate, he doesn’t provide a lot of power but is very tough to strike out and gets on-base enough to get above par overall. In each of the past three seasons, his home run total has finished between seven and ten while his wRC+ has been between 103 and 108.
In 2022, he stole 20 bases in 22 tries. That seems to have prompted a more aggressive approach, which led to a few more steals but also a few more outs. In 2023, he made 50 steal attempts, succeeding 43 times. In 2024, it was 31 steals in 37 tries.
Defensively, he has received strong grades at his primary position of second base, as well as filling in at shortstop. If it weren’t for the presence of Dansby Swanson on the roster, Hoerner likely could have provided strong glovework at short on a regular basis. FanGraphs has considered Hoerner to be worth between 3.9 and 4.6 wins above replacement in each of those three campaigns, reflecting his steady performance.
Prior to this news, there was a speculative case for the Cubs to make Hoerner available in trades. He and the Cubs signed an extension in 2023, a three-year pact that guaranteed him $35MM over the 2024-26 seasons. There are still two years remaining on that deal, with Hoerner to make $11.5MM next year and $12MM in 2026.
This winter’s shortstop free agent class is pretty thin. Willy Adames is the top guy and he was to be followed by Ha-Seong Kim, but Kim recently underwent shoulder surgery and it’s unclear if he will be ready for Opening Day 2025. For clubs that miss out on Adames, their best bets will be guys who are likely viewed as a tier below an everyday option, with names like Paul DeJong, Nick Ahmed and Kyle Farmer in this group.
There likely would have been some clubs interested in acquiring Hoerner and moving him back to shortstop. The Cubs could have entertained the idea since they have a strong farm system. The current top 100 list at MLB Pipeline features eight Cubs, including six that have reached the Triple-A level. Two of those are infielders Matt Shaw and James Triantos, both of whom are capable of playing second base.
There are only so many ways that the Cubs can open space for those prospects, as Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki and Swanson all have full no-trade protection. Hoerner doesn’t have such a clause. Making him available in trades could have allowed the Cubs to upgrade their pitching staff in a trade, with Shaw and/or Triantos filling the void.
Perhaps that plan will now be less viable with the news of this surgery, as clubs will naturally have some hesitation about acquiring Hoerner until his prognosis is more clear. If Hoerner ends up staying with the Cubs and missing some of the 2025 season, perhaps guys like Shaw or Triantos will have a path to Opening Day roles. Third baseman Isaac Paredes also has second base experience and could slide over, opening up the hot corner.
Man, anyone ATL is interested in for SS upgrade is undergoing the knife. First, Kim. Now, Nico.
Oh no, Willy! Watch out for the knife, Willy!
youtube.com/watch?v=qKIZ5olUexs
I think that puts any trade talk for Hoerner or Swanson on hold. Swanson’s contract would be hard to move anyway.
There was never any talk about moving Dansby. He had a rough year offensively, but he is as good as any SS with the glove. And as you pointed out, they couldn’t move that contract anyway.
As for Shaw, I don’t want him playing 3B because his arm is too fringy.
Swanson actually had a much better second half at the plate and was dealing with a knee injury in the first half that Counsell didn’t really talk about til after the season… btw.. It’s funny how they kind of downplay Hoerner on here all the time. I would say that a career WAR of 3.9-4.6 is better than “fairly consistent”.
Swanson is a good player, but if you aren’t hitting 30 HRs, some fans will have no idea who he is.
Rondon, Hoerner is top 3 or top 4 in MLB as a 2B.
Brilliant insight except for that the majority of the games Shaw played has been at third base. Also the “fringy” arm comment is dumb considering the Cubs had Nick Madrgial playing third in 2023 and he played plus plus defense there despite having a “weak” arm.
As for “not being able to move Swansons contract”… Swansons AAV is slightly over 25 million, he has given 39 and 34 million value in his first two season.
Not sure why everybody is hating on Swanson. Swanson isn’t being paid for his bat. He’s being paid because the Cubs needed a leader and he’s maybe the best Defensive SS in baseball. His bat is more than enough to cover his salary. He doesn’t hit a ton of homers or for high average but he’s a better than average hitter. The only argument I could see is maybe his deal is a bit long and people still refuse to believe in the NMC’s that Hoyer hands out like M&M’s on Halloween. Yeah I suppose you could trade somebody with one but it would cost you an arm and a leg and would hurt you more than help you. I can’t see why Swanson would agree to a trade his wife is playing Soccer in Chicago and also has a multi year deal so there’s no way either is leaving. NMC’s are bad business and shouldn’t be handed out with no real thought given to it. But Hoyer does it all the time. Which is another reason he’s a bad GM.
Mike, I generally agree with you on the full NTCs, for example Happ’s was inexcusable. But with the competition for the FA shortstops and Correa’s injuries, I can see why Hoyer acquiesced with Swanson. He’s going to have 10/5 NTC after 5 years of that contract, so it’s really during years 4 and 5 that the NTC matters. I may have hung on and insisted on only a limited NTC for those two years, however.
And so you wouldn’t have signed him. Every commenter on here is convinced they’d be the greatest negotiator of all time when it comes to baseball contracts, but agents would absolutely eat your lunch at the conference table.
But Swanson isn’t a better than average hitter. His career OPS+ is 96. In 2024 it was 98. In 2023 is was 104. He’s sort of the definition of a league average hitter.
Dansby has a full NTC. An NMC is slightly broader.
Is it true he smokes a pack of Lucky Strikes during the game & his teammates call him Nico Tine? Asking for a friend. Ahahahaha!
Swanson – Hoerner is a very good defensive duo. No need to trade just to trade.
There is the excuse of why he had zero power i mean beside the fact that he sucked all year until the end..
Cpl
Hoerner had a good season
He was also snubbed as a gold glove finalist.
Hoerner has never been a power hitter even in the minors.
Yet he finished with an OPS+ 98 so damn near league average bat which equated to a 4 WAR and likely another gold glove…but, yeah, he sucked.
Well now there is a solution to why he is not in the gold glove running.
Also great to see the media jump on the 10 day old news.
You needed to know this sooner?
I would be curious to know how this affects your life. I will wait all day. Please inform us!
Lindor’s Bodyguard
I would be curious to know how this affects your life.
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I think one might infer, from his user name, that he is a Cubs fan.
Kind of straightforward.
Joe—-Harry Carey was an actor. Really don’t see any straight forward connection to that user name being linked to a Cub fan at all.
Lindors mad because his team got knocked out last night. Or maybe it’s just who he is who knows.
Mike
Figure it out……
Blackpink–I did figure it out. Harry Carey was an actor. Harry Caray was the Cubs announcer. Two separate persons.
The highest form of respect is to remember and call someone by name. If they are spelled differently, they are two different people.
I will respect harrycarey and assume his username is connected to something a little less straight forward than being a Cub fan.
So given that this is a baseball site do you think it’s more likely that he’s a fan of the actor or he simply spelled the name wrong?
Moron
Dude (so much less harsh than “Moron”)—it was a minor jab at my pal Joe–who said it was straight forward. Tongue in cheek–that’s all. Joe wanted to have fun with Harry—I wanted to have fun with Joe. He’s one of the better posters here.
I don’t think he spelled the name wrong at all. For all I know, his name may actually be Harry Carey.
But, per usual, always good to see you visit a Cubs story. Think about all the rent you could be collecting from them for living in your head.
mike- LMAO. Well known troll acting the fool. Anyway this news did come out of nowhere as it wasn’t reported at anytime this season. I wonder if Pinkie knows that players usually get routine exit physicals sometimes also. Maybe they were keeping track of MRI’s and noticed a problem getting worse and decided to take care of it now which makes complete sense which Pinkie never really does. Better now than going to ST and having get worse. Be more interested to see if it was torn or partially torn which might affect recovery time. Don’t really see how this would affect his trade value in any way.
Joe just mute that TTurnbuckle dude and save time. I did. That’s time you’ll never get back.
Harry Carey was an actor.
=============================
Harry Carey was the Cubs announcer who always led the crowd in “Take me to to the Ballgame”. I’m betting that is where the user name is from.
Joe–I apologize—it was just some tongue in cheek humor (attempt) as the Cubs announcer’s last name is spelled differently than the actor.
I was just inferring that if it was straight forward the poster, harrycarey, would have replaced the “e” with a correct “a”.
After a half century of announcing and Hall of Fame standing, I just would respect the guy with the correct spelling of his name.
Of course, I know who led the crowd in song—been a season ticket holder for a long time and can guarantee that I’ve seen twice as many Cubs games in my life than Harry Caray did. He just got paid a lot more than I. 🙂
mike127
it was just some tongue in cheek humor
=========================
No problem; it’s all cool.
I was just a little annoyed at Lindor asking how this affected his life. Without getting too deep in the rabbit’s hole, everyone in here probably qualifies as a baseball junkie.
It’s not like real life problems, but when stuff happens to our favorite teams, of course it’s going to annoy us.
@harrycarey — Do you think they’re sitting on this for 10 days? They’re not privvied to someone’s medical records unless they offer it up to them. Not a big deal. I’d also imagine most teams are being courteous of the playoffs and not releasing any non-pertinent information. Notice it was released the morning after the World Series was set.
Good point. Except for that POS ARod, most teams try to respect the playoffs.
ARod’s gotta ARod. lol
@harrycarey
Well, he saved about 4 defensive runs overall, so yes, he won’t be winning any GG or Fielding Bible awards but still not a complete lack of defense.
Who?
Stfu
No one has heard of this dude. Might as well play for the Rockies. We only keep up with MVPs and all stars here. Take your AAA player and go away
TerryTurnbuckle
No one has heard of this dude.
==========================
All real baseball fans have heard of him.
Joe just mute this fool and move on. I did.
This news is really not helpful. Which extensor tendon? If it is his pinky NBD. If it is in his thumb, index, or middle finger, bigger deal because that is what you primarily use to grip a ball. On top of that, a flexor tendon surgery is typically that big of a surgery. In season, yeah because you can’t really turn to game action, but in the offseason, you can take the 6-8 weeks to rest that finger and let it heal and then work your way back into full activities. I went back and looked at pics from last season, nothing really showing any glaring issue. A couple pics showed his pinky out, which may just be the way he throws the ball, or it could be the injured finger.
Bar—I really can’t imagine this being a huge issue. I think we can assume that this injury did NOT occur between October 1 and October 10 leading to a surgery on the 11th.
This is obviously played with/through a portion of the season, if not a majority of it.
Seems to me that both Nico and the Cubs were content with this being addressed after the season and perhaps after some rest or quick vacation.
Probably has 14-15 weeks before spring training. No cause to read too much into this unless he isn’t able to report (whether with the Cubs or somewhere else).
I agree. Sorry if my point didn’t come across clear enough. I was trying to say it isn’t really a big deal and should have a quick recovery, but if it were the pinky it would be even less of a deal. Anticipate 10-12 weeks to be back to regular work.
and to clear up my point as well—if it were serious enough that he couldn’t have gripped a ball, it would have been known to the public fan base by now.
Wasn’t exactly implying that it not a “huge” issue—more along the lines if he couldn’t grip the ball or was making throws to the tarp, the bells would have sounded in June or July.
It says on the Cubs site that it was his forearm.
I just saw that. You don’t see a lot of repairs of the flexor tendons in the forearm. I so I am wondering if this is more of a tomato/tomahto situation. The flexor digitorum profundis and flexor digitorum superficialis, which are used for the bending your four fingers can be repaired on the arm side of the wrist but it is repairing the flexor tendon for the finger while technically being a forearm surgery.
“Flexor tendons run from the forearm to the fingers, allowing you to bend your fingers and thumb to grasp objects or make a fist.” The tendon is what connects the muscle to the bone.
Mike
Notwithstanding the hairy care nonsense, on this your take may be spot on. Nico should be playing by May 1 if not sooner.
He’s got 4 months before ST starts. I think he’ll be fine by Opening Day. I’d let him skip Japan for sure. If he was a P, It might be different.
Considering how he’s getting the surgery now, hopefully he’s good to go for the start of spring training.
If Hoerner has produced 3.9-4.6 WAR each of the last 3 seasons and will only make $11.5-12.0 million the next 2 seasons, why would the Cubs WANT to trade him?
3.7 to 5.1 WAR via the link this website supplied for Hoerner. That is 3rd best among 2B over the past 3 seasons. Why would the Cubs WANT to trade that kind of performance?
IMHO, the whole thing is nonsense.
The Cubs aren’t some small market team trying to re-balance the books every year.
They aren’t a team that hit the wall and have to rebuild.
They are more likely to add than to reduce.
The idea that some fans have is that the Cubs need to clear a path for Shaw which isn’t true at all.
The only argument to trade Hoerner is if they decide to big boy ball and go all in on Soto or trade for Vlad. Then it would make sense to trade Nico, roll the dice on Shaw, add a couple prospects and reallocate Nico’s team friendly contract to help pay a portion of the other.
I would personally start Shaw with the big league club even if Nico is totally healthy. If Shaw proves up to the task and hits( I don’t think we’re worried about his defense), Then Nico could be a nice trade chip if a need arises at the deadline. As we’ve seen injuries can decimate a bullpen or starters and he could bring back both. I don’t want to see him go either because he’s a winning player IMO but who knows what they’ll need next July. He seems to be the easiest player to replace though.
If Nico is healthy, and Shaw is ready, Paredes or Suzuki can DH, depending on Belli opting in or out. They can sign Jensen as a FA catcher.
Hoerner has been the 3rd best 2B in baseball. Why would you even think about trading him?
Top 100 prospects become an average MLB player less than 20% of the time. Even top 20 prospects, Shaw is #22, make it only 25% of the time. Shaw has a roughly a 1 in 4 to 1 in 5 shot at putting up a 2.0 WAR. Horner averages over 4 WAR.
If you read it I said specifically that I didn’t want to trade him. However, You never know what’s going to happen and a lot depends on what kind of team Hoyer puts together and what other mistakes he can make. I just said at the deadline he’d be the easiest to replace and would bring back the most value. Shaw might do it also.
I agree. I believe there are more than enough ways to weave Shaw into the line up and honestly, Paredes in Wrigley is still an unknown.
I also agree that Hoerner (or Paredes) would be valuable trade chips if Shaw earns their spot.
The Cubs have the luxury of entertaining multiple avenues this offseason. They could go crazy and sign or trade for a true impact bat or, offensively they can stand pat and really attack pitching. My personal belief is they should trade Taillon and sign a true TOR starter. Using the money saved by loving Taillon to give us enough cushion to sign a closer/high leverage reliever.
They don’t but pundits reason Swanson and Paredes are hard to move and Shaw will be ready mid-season. Silly to speculate before Belli opts in or out.
I personally don’t like the idea of trading Nico, but given the roster and the need league- wide for a quality 2b, he would bring the most back in value, especially with what the Cubs state are their biggest needs: SP, C, BP. His consistency, clubhouse leadership, and versatility, coupled with minor league depth, makes Nico delicious bait, more so than anyone else the Cubs have available.
Nico is here to stay. The only shuffling Hoyer should be doing is for his bullpen reclamation projects. It looks like he may have been playing through this injury, and he still produced great numbers.
Wrigley field is a dump and filled with drunks
Your mom is Wrigley Field?
ROTFLMAO! That’s going to leave some scars.
T stands for troll
I think this guy was the subject of a 2 Live Crew song. Nico Hoerney. Me love you long time!
How does an infielder need a TJ?
Is he messing around throwing cutters on the side?
Taillon should just tell Hoerner how he learned his slider which is,
In May 2018 Roger Beshens taught him, Glasnow, Musgrove the Roger Beshens Football Slider. On center grip, throw like Football, Stiff wrist.
What is funny is Roger Beshens has a video with Brent Strom and 11 dback pitchers with Fetters and Carlson, Drabek and Baj, telling Roger, Glasnow, Taillon and Musgrove paid Roger Beshens. I’m not sure how much those guys paid Roger but I hope a lot they sure were just average ML pitchers, Glasnow had no control in Pitt with no Roger Beshens Football Slider. Taillon stank without that RB Football Slider and Joe Musgrove would have never been let go by the Astros in 2017 if he knew the Roger Beshens Football Slider.
Don’t you get tired of posting the same thing over and over again Roger?
haha!
Matt Blake, Rodon, Cole, Holmes, King, Schmidt….all average without the Roger Beshens Football Slider.
The Beshens Strom video is coming out soon, get the popcorn out.
Apart from your post being some sort of weird advertisement. He didn’t have Tommy John. Flexor tendon is different than the UCL.
Didn’t Bryce Harper have TJ surgery.? And Miguel Amaya did while in the minors. Much more common with pitchers but position players are not immune.
If MLB truly prioritized player safety, wouldn’t they have medical professionals asses an athletes daily activities including the kind of pitches they throw, their recovery process and their training regimen? Imagine the legal battles that would ensue if it was discovered weighted balls were causing harm. How many legal claims could arise from this?
Many teams incorrectly instruct on how to throw the Roger Beshens Football Slider, which results in injuries, including those that come from the cutter which is just essentially a standard slider with a unfavorable angle the one Verlander threw with the Tigers, If MLB would clarify that their are two distinct type of sliders, the traditional and the Roger Beshens Football Slider and then explain the differences, it could help address the problem. The cutter thrown by Rivera was unique compared to the traditional slider, not the same. A significant number of cutters are Roger Beshens Football Sliders particularly the ones that have more than 5 inches of Horizontal movement.
That fool is just trying to come off more intelligent than he is.
MLB teams invest hundreds of millions of dollars in pitchers, they would not have them throwing something if they knew or had reasonable belief that it was causing injury.
You missed the article, MLB team doctor says two pitches are causing the injuries. The Sweeper and power change-up.
The Sweeper it the Roger Beshens Football Slider thrown from a lower arm angle and it’s the same slider when thrown over the top.
Watch the Yankees-Dodgers series and everyone will be throwing it.
It’s all about the money and the pitchers have no problem making millions even if they need a TJ.
The Cutter is causing most of the inuries, Most people know a bad tilt causes injuries. You can’t grip a ball off center and have a bad tilt. The cutter in most instances is just a traditional slider like Verlander threw in Detroit.
MLB could have came out in 2018 and said there are two different sliders a traditional one with a off center grip, bad tilt and the Roger Beshens Football Slider, on center grip, throw like football, stiff wrist. They chose to call the RB football Slider a sweeper and try to sell it’s technology driven, which it 100% is not in any way. Anyone can learn and throw the RB football slider and be elite without any technology.
velocity in a pitfall for 2 years and now this surgery, is it possible he was playing through it all this time?
No (yes)