Nico Hoerner (3B/2B/SS, CHI) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups

4 years ago by RotoBrady

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ROSTERED IN: 13% of leagues

ANALYSIS: It already feels like Nico Hoerner has been a fixture in the Cubs lineup and dugout for years; which is why I was quite surprised to find out that he's still just 23, having blown through the minor leagues in just 337 AB (268 of which came at Double-A) and arrived with Chicago insanely quick after his three-year stint at Stanford. Hoerner had an admirable showing over a limited 78 AB back in 2019, but the growing pains were inevitable, and the consensus top-fifty prospect going into the 2020 season struggled tremendously across 108 AB with a mere four XBH (all doubles), three steals in five tries, and an unsightly slash of .222/.312/.259. I suspect that Hoerner has discovered some emerging "grown man strength" in his core prior to the 2021 campaign, wielded without a single compromise on the part of agility or coordination. He's always been able to play multiple defensive positions at a high-quality, in fact, he netted a 0.8 dWAR in his brief/miserable 2020, and he's currently sixth on the Cubs in WAR (0.5) despite taking one-third of the AB as the teammates ahead of him in that area.

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In just 25 AB so far, Hoerner has already matched his XBH total from 2020 (four doubles), stole a base in his lone attempt, has walked and struck out six times each, and at this point he's slashing phenomenally at .360/.484/.520. He's done almost everything right if the goal is to spray the lawn with pesky base-hits: his ISO has risen to .160 (up by 12.3% from 2020), his hard hit rate continues to grow to 42.1%, his average exit velocity is up 2.6 MPH to a career-best 89.4, he's creating a combined 84.3% line drives and grounders from batted balls (his GB/FB ratio is up to 6.00), and while he's striking out just a tad more, that's barely noticeable behind his equivalent walk rate of 19.4% (up by 10%). All in all, the .474 BABIP is just a reflection of what good can come from hitting the ball harder/flatter while taking walks like it's a nice day in the park. Nico Hoerner can hit for extra-bases now, but you'll have to reap the rewards through his BA/RBI/R/SB marks because his new groove is tailored strongly against home-run-hitting. He's actively realizing his potential; and with the defensive flexibility he offers, the vision and execution he's displayed at the plate, and a stolen-base-upside that's nothing to sneeze at, Nico Hoerner has plenty to offer those in medium to deep formats.

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