Chicago Cubs rally past the Minnesota Twins for a 6-2 win — fueled by a Christoper Morel HR — after placing Nico Hoerner on the IL
The Chicago Cubs’ optimism that second baseman Nico Hoerner could avoid a stint on the injured list met reality Friday.
Hoerner landed on the 10-day IL before the series opener against the Minnesota Twins, retroactive to Tuesday, because of his left hamstring strain. He will be eligible to rejoin the Cubs for their series in Philadelphia to close out their nine-game trip.
Even when Hoerner isn’t in the lineup, he found a way to affect their 6-2 victory Friday.
First baseman Matt Mervis wasn’t happy with his first-pitch grounder off Sonny Gray for the final out of the fourth inning. He left runners on the corners as the Cubs faced a one-run deficit. After the sequence, Hoerner assured Mervis in the dugout that he’s swinging at the right pitches and seeing the baseball well. Hoerner concluded the chat, “Stay aggressive.”
Mervis trusted Hoerner’s feedback and carried it into his next at-bat in the seventh. Again he swung at the first pitch, a changeup from Twins reliever Griffin Jax, and smoked it to the center-field wall. Mervis’ double scored Patrick Wisdom from first base to tie the game and help spark the Cubs’ comeback victory. Two batters later, catcher Yan Gomes put the Cubs ahead for good on a single to right field.
“He’s a great teammate, he’s always helping in whatever way he can,” Mervis said of Hoerner. “And obviously a guy that’s had a lot of success so far this season offensively and a guy that I look up to as a hitter. So just having him that I can run an idea by approach wise is great.”
Left-hander Drew Smyly, who held the Twins to two runs in six innings, described the comeback as an awesome team win. Christopher Morel, getting the start at second base and hitting leadoff in place of Hoerner, crushed an opposite-field two-run homer in the ninth, his second in three games since getting called up.
“Same game,” Morel said. “The pitchers here, they’ve got more experience. The more experience they’ve got, I need to take my pitch. If I see the pitch right in the zone, I need to make an adjustment and have good contact. If it’s not in the zone, I need to take it. It’s the same baseball, just different experience.”
Hoerner’s IL move isn’t the result of any setback with his left hamstring strain. Hoerner made clear he has experienced “nothing but positives” with his recovery since suffering the injury Monday night. Ultimately the team’s best-case return-to-play scenario for Hoerner had him missing half the trip and playing at potentially not 100%, which also would have left the bench short-handed for that stretch.
“Definitely the priority is on treating the strain thoroughly and giving myself a chance to be the best version of myself when I am back on the field,” Hoerner said Friday. “Obviously the way I play I move around a good bit.”
The Cubs wanted to be smart with how they handled Hoerner’s hamstring strain and take advantage of the extra days he will get on the IL. He ran on the field Friday afternoon to test the hamstring and was pleased by how he moved. Infielder Miles Mastrobuoni was recalled from Triple-A Iowa to take Hoerner’s spot.
The Cubs also activated left-hander Brandon Hughes from the IL and optioned right-hander Javier Assad.
“Maximizing how do we get the most out of Nico Hoerner for the 162-game schedule and we thought that was ideal,” Ross said.
Hoerner admitted it’s challenging to go along with a plan that keeps him out longer than when he could be ready to play, but he’s keeping the big picture in mind. Two Thursday off days save Hoerner from missing additional games.
“When you break it down like that, it makes a little bit more sense and it’s a little bit easier to wrap your head around, but you never want to miss time,” Hoerner said. “You want to be on the field when you feel capable, and there’s probably at some point during this 10-day stretch when I would be at a place to contribute on the field, but the 30,000-foot view that hopefully it’s the best thing to go through me personally and the team.”
The Cubs’ improved infield depth gives Hoerner peace of mind knowing the roster features quality fill-ins during his absence.
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