{"id":43367,"date":"2025-03-22T22:13:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T22:13:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=43367"},"modified":"2025-03-22T22:13:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T22:13:45","slug":"cubs-gold-glove-infielder-reaches-key-milestone-in-injury-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=43367","title":{"rendered":"Cubs Gold Glove Infielder Reaches Key Milestone in Injury Recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Not every Chicago Cubs player could go to Japan for the Tokyo Series \u2014\u00a0even if they wanted to.<\/p>\n

Second baseman Nico Hoerner would have loved to have been on that trip. But, as he continued his recovery from flexor tendon surgery in October, the Cubs felt it was better for Hoerner to remain in Arizona and continue his rehab.<\/p>\n

On Friday, while the Cubs that did go to Japan were sleeping off the jet lag, Hoerner made a huge stride in his potential return to the lineup \u2014\u00a0he finally played a spring training game.<\/p>\n

While he has been playing in minor league spring training games, this was his first with the Major League club. Hoerner batted second and played his usual position.<\/p>\n

His first at-bat ended with him flying out to right field. In the fourth inning, he batted first and flew out again, this time to center field. His final at-bat, which came in the seventh, also ended in an out. He grounded out to shortstop.<\/p>\n

Right now, the outcomes don\u2019t matter. What matters is Hoerner playing an entire game in the field with the Major League squad less than a week before the Cubs re-boot the regular season with a series that starts at the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Hoerner underwent the surgery, which was on his throwing arm, after last season. He admitted that being ready to play for the Tokyo Series would have been an \u201caggressive\u201d timeline and the focus was on him being ready for the Arizona series. That\u2019s the biggest reason why he didn\u2019t make the trip to Tokyo.<\/p>\n

He isn\u2019t clear yet. Friday was just another box to check off.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou gotta get your arm ready, but also your legs and your swing and your whole game,\u201d he said to reporters, including MLB.com. \u201cAnd fortunately, I\u2019m not too behind on that either and should be in a good spot to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cubs manager Craig Counsell said that Hoerner has \u201c\u2026 passed all the tests so far\u201d to be ready for next Thursday. If he is unable to go, Chicago will likely go with Jon Berti, who started at second base in the Tokyo Series.<\/p>\n

Hoerner should man second base for the next two seasons, as he\u2019s signed to a three-year deal through 2026. Last season he slashed .273\/.335\/.373\/.708 with seven home runs, 48 RBI and 31 stolen bases. The year before he won his first Gold Glove at his new position, as he moved to second after the Cubs signed Dansby Swanson to play shortstop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not every Chicago Cubs player could go to Japan for the Tokyo Series \u2014\u00a0even if they wanted to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":43368,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nCubs Gold Glove Infielder Reaches Key Milestone in Injury Recovery - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=43367\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cubs Gold Glove Infielder Reaches Key Milestone in Injury Recovery - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Not every Chicago Cubs player could go to Japan for the Tokyo Series \u2014\u00a0even if they wanted to.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=43367\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-22T22:13:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/avtvip-103.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=43367\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=43367\",\"name\":\"Cubs Gold Glove Infielder Reaches Key Milestone in Injury Recovery - 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