Cubs hopeful Nico Hoerner can return to lineup Friday against Pirates

Middle infielder Nico Hoerner joined Cubs hitters on the field for batting practice Thursday as he went through a workout resembling his pregame routine.

After he put away his bat, he headed to left field to run under the supervision of Cubs trainers, testing his left hamstring.

“If we get good information from that,” manager Craig Counsell said, “then hopefully he’ll be in there tomorrow.”

Hoerner was out of the lineup for a third straight game, but he’s trending toward at least avoiding a stint on the injured list. Counsell said the team instructed Hoerner to rest Wednesday before ramping up activity Thursday.

“If we’re in good shape, then it was just kind of some cramping issues,” Counsell said. “He had a little bit of that issue going on in Pittsburgh. Then we’re confident we’re through it, and then we’ll move forward.”

Even on Tuesday, when the Cubs scratched him from the lineup right before the game, Hoerner said he was confident he was “in the day-to-day category,” not something more serious.

“We’re always dealing with little things here and there,” Hoerner said then. “But I felt like I’ve been in a good spot to where I can still be a good version of myself on the field. And today, it wasn’t quite at that level.”

While Hoerner checked off what the Cubs hoped were the last steps before his return, shortstop Dansby Swanson (sprained right knee) ramped up activity before the game. His workout included long toss and taking ground balls.

Again so soon

The Cubs wrapped up a series against the Pirates in Pittsburgh on Sunday, winning two of three games. Only four days later, the teams opened a four-game set at Wrigley Field.

All three of the Pirates’ pitchers who started in the Pittsburgh series — Jared Jones, Paul Skenes and Bailey Falter — are penciled in for starts in Chicago. For the Cubs, left-hander Justin Steele and right-hander Kyle Hendricks are facing the Pirates for a second consecutive time.

“Kind of fun, the cat-and-mouse game between a hitter and a pitcher that have faced each other multiple times — six at-bats in a week,” Counsell said. “You don’t see that very often. . . . It’s a little bit like how a playoff series would go, where you face a couple of starters within a week.”

The Cubs will face a similar situation next week when the Braves come to town. The Cubs are coming off a three-game series in Atlanta.

Scoring early

After being shut out by the Braves for two straight days, the Cubs homered within the first two innings the next two games.

In Atlanta, Mike Tauchman hit the first pitch of the game over the fence Wednesday. Against the Pirates, Ian Happ returned to the lineup after two games off for a mental reset. In his first at-bat, in the second inning, he homered to right field.

“We’re usually a pretty good offense early in games,” hitting coach Dustin Kelly said in a conversation with the Sun-Times. “We’ve done a really good job those first couple of innings of getting to some starters.

‘‘And sometimes it doesn’t pan out with runs, but a lot of times it pans out with [raising their] pitch count, then getting into a bullpen a couple of innings earlier. And that sets you up for a whole series.”