Cubs standout Nico Hoerner tops our NL Central second baseman rankings

Our NL Central rankings series moves to the keystone today, which houses two of the elite contact and defense guys in all the National League plus a dark horse All-Star candidate. We also see the Chicago Cubs take the top spot for the first time so far. If you missed them, we've already ranked catchers in the division as well as the first basemen. We'll go around the diamond, DH, starting staff and bullpen and then synthesize all of that into team rankings before Opening Day.

1. Nico Hoerner, Chicago Cubs

Is it fair to say that Nico Hoerner has become significantly undervalued among Cubs fans this offseason? Second basemen that average 4.0 WAR over a three-year period don't grow on trees, and Hoerner was also suffering through an undisclosed injury last year. At 27, the former first-rounder is the elder statesman of the group below.

The Stanford standout's contact skills are the best of any Cub I can recall: his Whiff and K% have been between the 95th and 99th percentile over the past few years (both 99th in 2024). His hand injury most likely sapped some of his power, leading to the lower slugging percentage. It probably figured in his career-worst (but still very good) fielding metrics.

Hoerner could get a late start to the 2025 season as he recovers from the offseason flexor surgery - but that shouldn't dampen expectations for the 2023 Gold Glover. For months, there's been a ton of smoke around a potential Hoerner, but it is pretty hard to see it making sense barring an unlikely Alex Bregman addition. The Cubs already have a rookie penciled in at third in Matt Shaw and heading into a season with a Vidal Brujan/James Triantos combination at second doesn't exactly scream 'playoff contender'.