Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner has been an incredibly consistent player for the franchise since making his debut on Sept. 9, 2019 and working his way into the lineup as an everyday player by the 2022 campaign.

A first-round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft out of Stanford University, he quickly rose through the ranks of their minor league system. The Cubs have done a wonderful job in recent years identifying college positional players to target early on and turning them into assets at the Major League level.

Hoerner is never going to blow people away with prodigious power numbers, but he gets the job done night in and night out as a great bat-to-ball and contact player, getting the most out of his skill set at the plate.

Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

This season, he is in the midst of the best offensive campaign of his career with an OPS+ of 109. He has produced a .291/.340/.378 slash line, hitting four home runs, 19 doubles and three triples to go along with 19 stolen bases.

His elite bat-to-ball skills are recognized by a few of his numbers at Baseball Savant, such as his 11.3% whiff rate, which is in the 98th percentile and his 7.5% strikeout rate, which is in the 100th percentile.

Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Hoerner may not hit the ball with much power, but he constantly squares up pitches with an excellent 36.2% squared-up rate, which lands in the 96th percentile.

Even by accomplishing so many great things at the plate thus far in 2025 while some of his teammates slump, there are fans who are looking for more from Hoerner. Specifically, people who are gambling on MLB games and looking for him to reach specific statistical outputs in any given game.

During a recent appearance on 670 The Score, the Chicago star revealed a troubling trend that many professional athletes are having to deal with. Hoerner shared that 90% of the messages that he receives on social media, such as Instagram, are people who are spreading hate after he fails to win them a wager.

He added that the MLBPA has done a great job of setting up security measures and handling anyone who goes over the line when sending him messages of a hateful nature.

With gambling becoming such a major part of sports, it is becoming commonplace for athletes to have to deal with such interactions.

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As if pressure isn’t high enough on professional athletes to perform already, they are now dealing with people feeling empowered behind an electronic device to send hurtful messages with zero repercussions.

It is certainly one of the worst things that come from social media, oftentimes overshadowing the good that can come from it, as Hoerner did add that he doesn’t have many people reaching out thanking him when his performances helps them positively.

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