Chicago Cubs: Is top prospect Nico Hoerner here to stay for good?

Another prized Chicago Cubs prospect made an impact during their big league debut on Tuesday. What does this mean for the foreseeable future?

The postseason dream is still alive, but it’s hanging on by a thread now that the Chicago Cubs find themselves in a Wild Card tie with Milwaukee. A Christian Yelich-less Brewers team, I might add.

Not to take away from the talent on that roster. They’re pretty stacked, but Yelich is the reigning National League MVP and could be on his way to earning consecutive honors. Either way, Chicago needs to wake up.

Over the years, we’ve witnessed some of the leagues’ rising stars make their debuts. For the North Siders, cameras flashed the brightest when Starlin Castro, Javier Baez, Addison Russell, Kyle Schwarber, Kris Bryant, and Willson Contreras took their first major league at-bats.

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Who could forget Castro’s arrival on May 7 in a road series against Cincinnati? Starlin didn’t take much time finding his footing, launching a home run off Homer Bailey.

He would finish the contest two-for-five with a bases-loaded clearing triple, bringing his RBI tally to six. Which just so happened to be a Major League record for a rookie in their first game.

Now, it’s time for Nico Hoerner to take center stage as Chicago marches toward the future with a Wild Card berth on the line.

California love

Born in Oakland, California, Nico’s debut in San Diego was somewhat of a homecoming. With Javier Baez out with a fractured wrist, all eyes were locked on the young infielder.

Hoerner came through with three hits including a two-run triple, ending the night with a total of four runs batted in. This has Cubs fans excited, right? Considering the lack of production from Daniel Descalso this season, possibly moving on from Russell and Ben Zobrist‘s future in the air, what does it mean for Nico?

Having him on the big league roster from here on out would be fantastic. However, you have to consider the backlash if things don’t necessarily go according to play. It’s evident that Tony Kemp (started at second last night) isn’t a permanent solution despite providing depth both in the outfield and infield.

Also, shortstop belongs to Javier Baez, meaning a move to second base is imminent. Thankfully, it’s no stranger to the 22-year-old prospect who has made 17 appearances at the position.

So, the right choice would be to let him play out the rest of the season with Chicago and send him back down to Tennessee or promote him to Iowa. That way he’s able to sharpen both sides of the blade, especially at second base if he has any plans to stay with the Cubs.

Surely we don’t want him to struggling early on in his first full year with the team and have to deal with demotion like Ian Happ, right? That would result in some fans calling for Theo to trade him like they are with Kris Bryant.

Granted, it’s more contract related but still, knock it off.