Within the span of seven pitches in the Cubs’ win over Minnesota Saturday, Nico Hoerner tallied four hits, knocking a single in each of the day’s at-bats. It was the kind of high-contact performance Chicago has come to know from the second baseman it signed to a six-year, $141 million contract extension just as this season got underway.
But that four-hit game -- the fifth of his career and his first since April 16, 2024 -- also stood out because, frankly, it was a level of production Hoerner struggled to provide over much of the first half. After opening ‘26 with one of the best months of his career, Hoerner fell into a funk, batting just .202 over 63 games between May 1 and the All-Star break.
It was a jarring stretch for someone who came just eight points shy of an NL batting title last season. Yet, if his second-half start is any indication, it’s also a skid Hoerner might finally be breaking out of.
Hoerner’s performance on Saturday was one of four multihit games he’s tallied since the break. And while he knows there’s still more work to be done to get his season back on track, the past week at least provides hope that he can eventually put his first-half troubles further into the rear-view.
“I haven't produced,” Hoerner said. “I haven't helped us score runs. I know that I can, and I know that I will, but that doesn't make those things sting less when there's long stretches of not helping our offense.”
It’s hardly something you’d expect to hear from Hoerner after the way his season started. Back then, he wasn’t just helping the offense; manager Craig Counsell was calling him “the engine” of it.
Riding new swing adjustments that significantly decreased his ground-ball rate, the eight-year vet came out of the gate flexing power the likes of which Chicago has never seen. He had four homers in the first 31 games of the year, boasting an OPS (.819) that was nearly 100 points higher than his career average to that point.
Once May arrived, it was as if someone kicked out the plug. Hoerner hasn’t homered since April 21, and after tallying 12 extra-base hits through April, he had just 15 over the next two and half months.
One of the most surprising aspects of Hoerner’s drop-off was the fact that, for the most part, little had changed in his metrics year over year. His 89.3% contact rate this season is on par with his career average. His rate of squaring up the ball (36.6%) remains elite, as does his minuscule whiff (11.7%) and strikeout rates (8.1%).
That Hoerner endured one of the toughest stretches of his career despite that left those with the Cubs scratching their heads.
“Nico is one of those hitters where sometimes it's really hard to evaluate, because the ball is just always in play,” Counsell said the day after Hoerner’s four-hit showing vs. the Twins. “You can say, ‘Nico is struggling,’ but Nico swung the bat in Cincinnati, same as he did yesterday, but there's no results.
“The ball doesn't go over the fence that much and he doesn't strike out, so the fielder has an opportunity on every play to catch his ball. Yesterday, they didn't. In Cincinnati, they did.”
A deeper dive into Hoerner’s numbers indeed highlights how much bad luck has played a factor in his troubles.
His .257 batting average on balls in play this year is 43 points below his career average. There's a 46-point difference between his batting average (.244) and expected batting average (.290), the second-largest gap among qualified MLB hitters this season. He’s batting just .231 against fastballs this year after feasting on them last season (.319), yet his expected batting average against those offerings is .296.
While those numbers don’t erase what Hoerner has endured, they’ve at least helped guide him back toward what’s made him such a productive hitter in the past.
“Any data or feedback, if it doesn't make you confident and ready to see the ball and hit the ball hard, it's probably not worth too much,” Hoerner said. “But at the same time, you also have to be aware of things that you've done when you’re at your best if and when things do change.”
The way he’s opened the second half implies things might be changing for the better. Hoerner tallied 11 hits in his first six games out of the break, as many as he had in the 16 games before that. Of those knocks, six came off fastballs.
It’s not a big enough sample to declare his funk a thing of the past. But it’s enough for Hoerner to believe lessons learned from those struggles could spark a second-half turnaround.
“I think I know myself well, but there's still always new challenges in our sport, and you'll never have the answers,” Hoerner said. “But I do feel like all of those times that are hard and don't go well are a part of figuring out and reaffirming the things that do work for you.
“I'm lucky to have great teammates, great coaches and people in my life around me. And I’m excited about what the rest of the year has in store.”