For players who just want to be in the lineup everyday to help their team win, sitting out any number of games can be tough.
Nico Hoerner, who dealt with some injury issues back in 2021 (his first trek through most of a 162-game season) before playing 135 games in 2022 and surpassing that with 150 in 2023, obviously wants to be out there. Same goes for Dansby Swanson, who missed just one game between 2020-22 while with the Braves before missing 15 in his first season in Chicago last year.
Hoerner sat out the Chicago Cubs‘ previous six games while dealing with left hamstring tightness. Swanson missed 11 games while on the injured list with a right knee sprain, which he tried to play through for a couple of weeks after first injuring it sliding into second base on April 25.
Both returned to the Cubs’ lineup Tuesday night to open the series with the Atlanta Braves, and both discussed the benefits of getting to sit back, watch games, talk to teammates, help however they can and all that good stuff. Still, not being physically able to help on the field isn’t the easiest thing to deal with.
“I think it was tough initially to say that I didn’t need to be out there,” Swanson said. “It was very prideful of me to try and continue to keep playing. But I think the best thing, obviously, for us and myself was to take that time off.”
“I’ve been fortunate to have the same training staff here for a long time and people I really have good relationships with and trust and know what’s best for me. So, that makes those things easier,” Hoerner said. “It’s never easy to miss games. I wish I could’ve been out there earlier, but I’m glad I’m out there now.”
Especially being a former major leaguer himself, their skipper can empathize with those guys’ feelings about being out there every opportunity they can.
“It’s unnerving, frankly, being on the bench,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “I’ve had more fun with Nico the last week about being on the bench, because Dansby relaxed after a little while, but you can’t get Nico to sit still. So we’ve had some fun with that, which I love about Nico. He’s had his glove on for nine innings, and I tend to wear my glove a lot, too, so we’ve joked about that.
“For both of those guys, they’re used to being out there, and they want to be out there. As a manager, you love that. You do. Sometimes, you feel like you’re holding them back. And it’s not wrong, but you know you’re holding them back.”
But finally, Hoerner and Swanson both healed up and returned Tuesday, each of them playing a part in the Cubs earning a 4-3 win in extras over the Braves.
Swanson had a good night at the plate, singling (and later scoring) in the second inning and then doubling down the left-field line in the fourth. He finished the night 2-for-4, recording his first multi-hit game since April 26.
Hoerner didn’t have as great a return, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in his first four trips to the plate, but he came through when he came back up in the bottom of the 10th. With runners at the corners and one out, Hoerner fell behind 0-2 in the count.
But with as good as he is at putting the bat on the ball — his contact rate is one of the best in the game — he was able to send a high chopper to second. That was good enough to bring Cody Bellinger in from third for his second career walk-off.
Can adding Hoerner and Swanson be what helps a slumping Cubs’ offense turn things around?
It’s been some time since we’ve seen the lineup consistently click. From the start of the year through April 26, the Cubs performed like one of the best lineups in baseball. They ranked fifth in runs (140), fifth in OPS (.741) and sixth in wRC+ (112). They lost 17-0 in Boston the next day, and from that game through Monday, they’d fallen to 26th in runs (72), 26th in OPS (.634) and 25th in wRC+ (85).
“These are the things that happen over a long season,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Tuesday. “You have your ups and downs, and at least for the last few weeks, we’ve been certainly in a low point, offensively. There’ve been too many games we’ve had zero, one or two hits through six innings, and we haven’t been able to string at-bats together. I think that is undeniable, but I just think this is what teams go through over the course of a season.”
Hoerner picked things up after a slower start to his season, now slashing .267/.357/.385/116 wRC+ following the win. But Swanson has had his share of offensive woes; his line is .218/.291/.353/86 wRC+ even after a strong night Tuesday.
Before the contest, Counsell cautioned against assuming Hoerner and Swanson will automatically fix what’s been ailing the offense.
“We’re getting two players that are normally in our lineup back, and that should help,” he said. “Is it the solution? Is it the answer? I don’t think anybody would say that’s the answer, but it’s going to help.”
Then again, Counsell did point out the strong line of starting pitchers the Cubs have faced recently. Plus, this is the first time the Cubs have had all the key members of their lineup together since Seiya Suzuki first hit the IL in mid-April.
The Cubs have managed to stay afloat (27-22, in wild card position and 1 1/2 games back in the division) thanks to stellar starting pitching and better bullpen performances recently. But they can’t always expect things to go like that, so the offense must figure out how to deliver like they did the first few weeks of the season.
Hoerner and Swanson returning might just be the next step toward getting back there.
“Hopefully, getting Dansby and Nico back, we keep grinding and I think we’ll get back to where we were in April, where we felt like we had really good at-bats and we had real depth,” Hoyer said.
