The Real Reason Cubs Infielder Nico Hoerner Is Slumping
A contact-first approach has sparked the worst slump of Nico Hoerner's career, as a forced shift toward pulling the ball has derailed the second baseman's once-elite offensive production.
Video Transcript
What is up, Cubs fans?
And welcome back to Cubs Roundtable.
I'm Joey Polizzi, talking about all things Cubs.
And Nico Hoerner has not been looking like his usual self at the plate.
Last year, you look at Hoerner, was the Cubs' most consistent hitter all the way around.
Batted 297, which ranked second in the National League, only behind Trea Turner.
He totaled a career-high 178 hits and he was an all-around good hitter for the Cubs.
This year, though, that same hitter has not shown up.
He's looked like a completely different hitter, and over the past two and a half months has been one of the Cubs' worst hitters in the lineup.
Hoerner batting just 198 since May 1st.
That is unlike Hoerner considering Hoerner did not have a batting average under 250 last season at any point during the season.
Now, Hoerner's batting average sits under 240 on the year.
So his rough stretch offensively is definitely being felt by the Cubs, and that has questioned what's going on with Nico Hoerner.
We wrote about how a hit by pitch could be affecting Hoerner, as he got hit by a pitch back on April 29th, and since then, he has looked like a completely different hitter.
Well, we got some insight on what could be affecting Hoerner and why he's had this slump for so long.
And we got this news from Ron Coomer, who went on 104.3 The Score and said that the Cubs have tried to adjust Hoerner to being more of a pull hitter.
Now, we know Hoerner loves to slap the ball, slap it the other way into right field for a single.
That's kinda been his MO for the past couple of years.
And if you look at his numbers this year and dive into his metrics, his ground ball rate opposite side of the field and overall batted balls the opposite side of the field are both down from his career averages.
So that's obviously somewhat of a concern here for the Cubs and Hoerner moving forward.
They have to get him back to where he usually is.
Let him be that slap hitter who gets on base and makes some noise on the base paths.
But let me know what you guys think about Hoerner's recent slump at the plate.
Do you think it's simply because the Cubs have tried to push him into being more of a pull hitter?
Let me know down below.
And as always, guys, go Cubs go.
