CHICAGO -- The Cubs have been on the hunt for consistency from the leadoff spot for the past few seasons. It is a hot-button topic within the fan base, and one that was raised again during Sunday morning's Minor League panel on the final day of Cubs Convention.

A fan in attendance asked the new leadership of the farm system -- senior director of player development Matt Dorey and director of player development Bobby Basham -- if there was a future leadoff hitter being groomed in the Minors. While the Cubs' development process is not that narrow, Dorey did name Nico Hoerner as a potential fit for that role down the road.

"It might be Nico Hoerner -- quite frankly," Dorey told the crowd. "He doesn't swing and miss. He doesn't strike out. He didn't show that enough last year in terms of grinding out at-bats or earning his walks, but he can really run."

The 22-year-old Hoerner -- ranked as the Cubs' No. 1 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- provided a spark for Chicago down the stretch last season as a fill-in at shortstop for the injured Javier Báez. This season, Hoerner will come to Spring Training as a candidate to win the vacancy at second base, though it is also possible that he opens the year with Triple-A Iowa.

Last season, the Cubs used 11 players in the leadoff spot (increasing the total to 17 used in the past three years combined) and that group turned in a .212 average with a .677 OPS and 77 wRC+ in '19.

In 20 games with the Cubs, Hoerner hit .282/.305/.436 with three homers, 13 runs scored and 17 RBIs in September. He intentionally adopted a more aggressive approach in the batter's box, which worked well for the first half of his stint with the North Siders. It also helped identify some areas of weakness for Hoerner to focus on for 2020.

"He knew that the league didn't know him and he wanted to try to get off his 'A' swing as soon as he could early in an at-bat," Dorey said. "A big part of his developmental plan moving forward will be his, I don't want to say plate discipline, but just making better decisions and having the ability and the comfort to grind out at-bats with two strikes.

"I think that's what we'll evaluate in Spring Training and Nico's hyper-aware of that. We'll see how that plays out."

Here are some more highlights of the discussion about some of the Cubs' top prospects:

On catcher Miguel Amaya (No. 2 among the Cubs' Top 30, per MLB Pipeline)

"Miguel is one of the best prospects in our system. A high ceiling. ... He had a really solid season last year in [Class A Advanced] Myrtle Beach. Above-average walk rate, below-average K rate, some power in a park where power really doesn't show up. Under the surface, we were really, really pleased with his progress, offensively, as well as defensively. This is still a young guy. He's in his early 20s, and catchers develop a little later." --Basham

On outfielder Brennen Davis (No. 3)

"Incredibly humble, hungry, has worked hard, has listened, has been willing to be coached. So, the byproduct of all that was a really successful year last year in [Class A] South Bend, although he was injured at times. So, our goal this offseason is really to continue to develop him physically, get him stronger so he can stay on the field for a full season, get that full season of at-bats.

"I'm actually looking forward to him struggling a little bit. I don't want it to happen, but I want him to fail a little bit, so that he can understand how to become his own best hitting coach, because that's really, at the higher level, the best hitters have the ability to make those adjustments on their own with their swing at-bat to at-bat. And that's another developmental hurdle that Brennan's going to have to face.

"We look forward to watching that unfold next year. I'm really excited about him. You all should be excited about him as a human being. He's an unbelievable kid." --Dorey

On lefty Brailyn Marquez (No. 4)

"Brailyn, his last half of last year in Myrtle was an epic run, just in terms of the raw stuff, the strikes, the breaking ball development. I think it's a little early to decide where he's going to start. I would guess Double-A. But, we want to see how he comes into camp, especially with our new pitching infrastructure -- that we're not missing anything with his delivery, or anything from a pitch data perspective.

"We want to make sure that's really tight before we send him out before this next really long full season. It's such a big year for him. But I think it'd be foolish to put any cap on what he can do this year. We just want to have him stay healthy and really come in and get to know a lot of our new pitching coaches, which will be important. We'll spend a lot of time with him this year." --Dorey

On outfielder Cole Roederer (No. 6)

"He's just an extremely gifted athlete, baseball player. He plays the game hard, is a hard worker. He made some really good strides this season. We probably put him in South Bend a little early in his development [and he handled it well]. ... Right out of the box, he gives you plus defense in center field and some power and some speed." --Basham

On shortstop Zack Short (No. 9)

"He's a guy that does a lot of things offensively that we like and value as an organization. He controls the zone. He gets on base. And he plays a premium position at a really, really high level. He can stand at shortstop in the big leagues right now defensively. So, for Zack, ultimately, putting him on the 40-man roster, it's getting him an opportunity to play every day, stay on the field and kind of re-identify who he is offensively. He has just enough power sometimes to get out of his approach." --Dorey