Nico Hoerner Not Sure If He’ll Be Ready by Spring Training
Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner had a surprise surgery following the end of the 2024 regular season and everything we’ve heard about his status for the start of 2025 doesn’t paint a rosy picture for the 2023 gold glove winner. Hoerner was recently on 670 The Score and even he couldn’t confidently say that he would be fully healthy by the time spring training comes around in February.
Hoerner, who played in 151 of the team’s 162 games this past season, underwent right flexor tendon surgery in early October. During his appearance on the Spiegel & Holmes Show Thursday, Hoerner was asked directly if he would be ready when the Cubs report to Mesa, Ariz., to begin preparation for the 2025 season. Here’s how Hoerner responded.
Via 670 The Score.
“There are no worries about February like you’ll be full go by training camp,” Laurence Holmes asks.
“No, I don’t know. We’re working on it. I think projecting that far out ahead is a bit challenging. It’s an injury that most of the timelines I feel like are based on pitchers. So, I think there’s going to be some feel throughout that process, but I’m feeling good about it right now.”
Sure, I’d love for Hoerner to say that he’ll be 100% in four months, but at the same time this is his first ever surgery and like he pointed out most of the timelines for returns are based on pitchers, who primarily get the flexor tendon surgery.
Hoerner said the arm issue mainly effected his throwing, jokingly pointing out his throws during the month of September. Meanwhile, the second baseman hit .355 in the final month of the season, sixth-best among all players in MLB.
So, hopefully Hoerner’s rehab goes as smooth as possible this offseason. Fingers crossed that he’ll be fine by the start of spring training.
(Previous Update)
Ummm, this seems bad. We always expect to hear an announcement or two during the offseason regarding a player needing surgery and you always cross your fingers that it isn’t something big, but this surgery to Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner seems major.
On Monday, the Cubs announced that Hoerner underwent right flexor tendon surgery earlier in October.
This is coming completely out of nowhere because although Hoerner did miss a few games on two separate occasions during the 2024 season he never went on the injured list and played in 151 games. Hoerner did deal with a hand fracture back in June, but he was back in the lineup after only missing a handful of games. No idea if this new development is related.
There’s still no word from the Cubs regarding a timetable for Hoerner’s recovery, but at the very least his offseason program will be affected by this procedure. Will he be ready by spring training? Will this affect his performance at the plate in 2025?
Another big issue is that whether you believe he should be shopped or not this winter, Hoerner undergoing a serious surgery pretty much sinks his trade value during the next 4-5 months.
Hoerner, 27, will begin the 2025 season with two years left on his contract with the Cubs.
