Fastball

Chicago Cubs Speedster Does Something Not Seen in Last Quarter Century of Team History

The Chicago Cubs will miss the playoffs this season, but infielder Nico Hoerner has made some team history.

Brady Farkas

Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner (2) dives safely into second base in front of Washington Nationals second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. (2) during the seventh inning at Nationals Park in 2024.
Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner (2) dives safely into second base in front of Washington Nationals second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. (2) during the seventh inning at Nationals Park in 2024. / Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images
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The Chicago Cubs beat the Washington Nationals 7-6 on Thursday at Wrigley Field. With the win, the Cubs are 78-75 on the season. Though they have a solid chance at finishing over .500, the Cubs will miss the playoffs again this year despite investing in manager Craig Counsell, Cody Bellinger and Shota Imanaga over the offseason.

In the win, infielder Nico Hoerner went 1-for-4 with a single and a stolen base. The stolen base was his 30th of the year, which put him in a rare class in team history.

Per Christopher Kamka of Marquee Sports:

Nico Hoerner: first Cub with consecutive 30-steal seasons since Eric Young Sr. in 2000-01.

Before him it was Ryne Sandberg (1982-86) and Bob Dernier (1984-85)

Obviously, stolen bases have become easier to come by in the last two years because of rule changes designed to get more action into the game. But still, Hoerner has speed, anticipation and baserunning instincts.

The 27-year-old is a former first-round pick of the Cubs (2018) who made his debut in 2019. He's hitting .270 this year with five homers and 43 RBI, in addition to the 30 stolen bases. He now has 101 stolen bases for his career.

The Cubs and Nationals will play again on Friday afternoon at Wrigley with first pitch coming at 2:20 p.m. ET. Trevor Williams will pitch for Washington while Jameson Taillon goes for the Cubs.

Williams is 5-0 this year with a 2.22 ERA. The veteran Taillon enters play at 10-8 with a respectable 3.54 ERA.

The Nationals are 68-85.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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