Chicago Cubs: Is Nico Hoerner back to being Nico Hoerner?

The Chicago Cubs opened up their pocketbooks this past year in hopes of not only making a deep postseason run in 2026, but also in securing the core of a winning team for the future.

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They signed third baseman Alex Bregman to a 5-year, $175 million contract. They also signed four veteran free agent relievers to restock a depleted bullpen. While it can be debated how well those signings have turned out, the spending did prove that the Cubs front office was serious about building something good.

The team also spent money on retaining two young, key components to the Cubs’ future via extension. They extended center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong with a 6-year, $115 million deal and also Nico Hoerner with a 6-year deal worth $141 million.

The pair of extended 20-somethings have had their ups and down this season. Crow-Armstrong, for example, started off the year slowly, but then went absolutely bonkers with production for a good long stretch. Meanwhile, Hoerner, who started red-hot, stalled in offensive production almost completely from early May until fairly recently.

And while Crow-Armstrong is a notoriously streaky hitter, Hoerner has been the picture of consistency throughout his major league career, with an elite-level contact-hitting approach and a batting average that has stayed within the .270s to .290s range.

Nico Hoerner’s fall and (recent) rise

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As of mid-June, the Cubs veteran was hitting .233 and struggling in all aspects of his offensive game.

However, there’s reason to believe that the veteran Cub is starting to come out of his extended funk. Over his last ten games, he’s hitting .317 and while that’s a very small sample size, it should be noted that he’s starting to make more significant contact, reminiscent of his prime self.

Some have theorized that a behind-the-scenes focus on improving his power-hitting game adversely affected his hitting approach. Cubs manager Craig Counsell hinted at a possible tweak when the announcement was first made that Hoerner had been extended.

Fixing what’s not broken?

“Nico can grow. I think Nico can be better,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “And I really am optimistic he’s going to be better. Nico’s skill-set, Nico’s going to make contact. I think Nico still has the ability to drive the ball a little more, and that’s in a good place and really ready to show up.”

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer also echoed the “Nico can be even better” sentiment at the time of his extension.

“Whenever you make this kind of investment in a player,” Hoyer noted, “you want to invest in someone that you know is going to keep trying to get better every day. You want to invest in someone that’s going to be a great teammate. And Nico has all those things. Super easy decision for us.”

Whatever the case, the Cubs need Hoerner to be Hoerner. If a shot at a few extra home runs a season costs them one of the best contact hitters in the game, the trade-off isn’t worth it. The defense and the gumption will always be there, but Chicago also needs the hitting tools Hoerner can give them at his very best.

Maybe Nico and everyone around him have come to that realization and the new Nico can go back to being more like the old Nico.

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