Chicago Cubs: Latest Baseball America prospect ranks should excite fans

Chicago Cubs: SS Nico Hoerner, Double-A, No.40 overall

Sliding in slightly behind Marquez on Baseball America’s Top 100 prospect list is shortstop Nico Hoerner, who rolls in at number 40 overall. Hoerner experienced a meteoric rise to the majors last season, just a year after the Cubs drafted the 22-year-old in the first round out of Stanford.

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups
• Cubs: P.J. Higgins deserves to be in the lineup on a daily basis

Hoerner is an electric player. He will be someone we look back years from now and lay claim that he played with his heart on his sleeve. Destroying minor league competition, Hoerner moved from rookie ball through the ranks to the majors across just two seasons.

In 2018 in a small sample size at South Bend, Hoerner slashed .400/.471/.667. Last year at Double-A Tennessee, Hoerner followed it up by slashing a respectable .284/.344/.399 in 70 games, striking out at only a 10.5 percent rate.

The Cubs elected to move Hoerner from Tennessee to the Show following an injury to Addison Russell, and Hoerner did not disappoint. In 20 games for the Cubs, Hoerner slashed .282/.305/.436 with three home runs and 17 RBI. He kicked his career off in style, with a three-hit, four-RBI performance on the road in San Diego in his debut.

Hoerner’s first major league home run came just four days later, at Wrigley Field. It was an exciting moment for everyone. While it is unlikely Hoerner breaks camp with the team, it is clear he is their future at second base. Javier Baez is the staple at shortstop, and Hoerner can provide the boom the club needs for years to come.