His season isn’t over yet! Nico Hoerner still has a chance to get some big league starts before the season is up.
He’s headed back out on the rehab trail:
Nico Hoerner (oblique) will start a rehab assignment with Iowa tonight
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) September 12, 2021
Let me clarify the excitement up top: this isn’t about the Cubs winning games or being excited that NICO HOERNER CAN TURN THE TIDE. He doesn’t need to be that guy in general, and obviously the Cubs are long out of it anyway.
Instead, the excitement here is just about Hoerner getting some more at bats and game experience at shortstop before the season ends. Thanks to a variety of injuries this year, the shortened season last year, and then injuries the year before, he’s had so little professional experience for a guy who is expected to be a full-time contributor next year (whether as the starting shortstop, or a guy who moves around). He just needs game action. The more the better. So the fact that a setback while rehabbing an oblique injury didn’t crater his entire season is a good sign.
Hoerner has been out since late July with the oblique, and while he was almost ready to return about three weeks ago, he felt that side tighten up in his first rehab game at South Bend. So he sat it back down, wisely so, and has worked to get back to the rehab game stage. Hopefully this time it goes better.
This is the third time, by the way, that Hoerner has seemingly hustled somewhere to be able to play in a Sunday rehab outing so that he doesn’t have to wait two days to begin (the minor leagues are off on Monday). I do love that eagerness.