Chicago Cubs Star Infielder Reportedly Underwent Surgical Procedure

One of the Chicago Cubs star infielders has reportedly undergone a surgical procedure this offseason.

Aug 30, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Chicago Cubs second base Nico Hoerner (2) draws a walk during the eighth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park / Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs have an important offseason ahead of them, and it hasn't gotten off to a great start.

According to Meghan Montemurro of The Chicago Tribune, star second baseman Nico Hoerner underwent surgery to repair his right flexor tendon.

This injury is much more common for pitchers, and that recovery timeline is anywhere from six to nine months on average. There has been no timetable revealed for how this might affect a position player like Hoerner, but it likely is something similar.

The Cubs have a lot to figure out this winter, and the 27-year-old is right in the middle of that.

To this point in his career, he's provided elite defense with a defensive bWAR of 6.1 in his career that earned him a Gold Glove Award in 2023, however, he's left much to be desired from an offensive standpoint.

Hoerner's slash line through six seasons is .278/.338/.381, and while the batting average is a clear strength of his at the plate, his OPS+ of 100 and wRC+ of 102 has him right at the league average and just two points above in those metrics.

Concerns have now been created because of this for Chicago.

Even if the rising star is back in time for Spring Training, he likely won't able to go through a full offseason where he was working on things to improve on offense and maintain his high level of play in the field.

Again, there has been no timetable announced by either the team or Hoerner about what his recovery might look like, so any speculation at this time would be just that, but this is going to be something to monitor throughout the winter.