Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner knew what he felt, but it was still reassuring to have the imaging support his personal evaluation.
Hoerner was diagnosed with a mild strain of his left hamstring, he revealed Tuesday. He was out of the lineup Tuesday against the Cardinals and considered day-to-day. A stint on the injured list isn’t part of his current treatment plan.
“Obviously, any discomfort that you feel on the field isn’t the best,” Hoerner said, “but really happy with how we’ve treated it so far and how I’m recovering.”
Though Hoerner’s absence will be felt – he’s hitting .303 as the Cubs’ tone-setting leadoff hitter and playing high-level defense – the team has the personnel to weather his time off.
They happened to recall utility player Christopher Morel, who had an eye-catching 1.156 OPS in Triple-A, before the game Monday. He started at second base Tuesday.
“I think Morel’s natural position’s a little bit more up the middle,” manager David Ross said, referencing conversations he had with coaches Andy Green and Jonathan Mota, who work with the infielders. “It feels really clean. I think he showed a little bit of that last year, moving him around.”
Nick Madrigal started at third base on Tuesday, but he’s played second base most of his career. Patrick Wisdom can play third with either Madrigal or Morel at second. So, Ross has options as he fills out the lineup card each day Hoerner is out.
“We have a roster that’s very deep at the major-league level, and down into Triple-A, and the guys that we’ve brought up,” Hoerner said. “And I’m really grateful to have that around us.”
The Cubs have an off day on Thursday, and they could use it to give Hoerner three days of recovery for the price of two games missed.
“There’s a world where he’s OK to play today,” Ross said before the game Tuesday.
The timeline will depend on Hoerner’s response to treatment each day. And if he isn’t progressing as expected by the off day, the Cubs could consider an IL move and backdate it up to three days.
In 2021, Hoerner dealt with a strained left hamstring that required almost six weeks on the injured list. That injury felt different from the tightness he experienced sprinting from second base to third in the fifth inning of the Cubs’ 3-1 loss to the Cardinals on Monday.
Hoerner was on first base when Dansby Swanson hit his tying RBI double down the left-field line. Hoerner saw it carom off the brick retaining wall.
“Obviously hoping to score on that ball,” Hoerner said. “I think I would have.”
Instead, he felt a tug at the back of his left leg, breaking his stride. He wasn’t going to make it. Hoerner slowed on his way into third.
“I’ve had injuries before,” Hoerner said. “It did not feel like an ‘Oh wow, I’m injured’ type of thing.”
Hoerner said he wasn’t carrying any nagging issues going into the game Monday. And he’d recovered well from a 14-inning game the day before, the Cubs’ 13th straight game without an off-day.
“Can’t control everything, unfortunately, in this game,” Hoerner said. “And things are going to show up sometimes.”
Hoerner played in each of the Cubs’ first 35 games of the season. He had a snakebitten 2021 season, but his only injury last year came in a freak collision with an umpire in the field. He still played a career-high 135 games in 2022.
“Hopefully we’ll get him back out there fairly soon,” Cubs right-hander Marcus Stroman said Monday. “He’s one of those guys that kind of make us go as a team.”