Chicago Cubs: Nico Hoerner is the unsung MVP, yet again

The Chicago Cubs won their second straight game on Friday, taking the series opener against the Miami Marlins at LoanDepot Park by a score of 6-1. In doing so, they re-took the top National League Wild Card spot from the Philadelphia Phillies by a half-game.

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The win represented a lot of positive after some big-time negatives emerged at various points of their four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers.

First, for the second straight game, the bullpen held after giving off signs of full-on collapse over the last several days. On Friday, Aaron Civale pitched three shutout innings in relief of Shota Imanaga to close out the game.

That leads to Imanaga, himself, who had an outstanding showing after a shaky run of starts.

The offense, meanwhile, is still cooking, with Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman killing things at the plate.

Nico Hoerner has been “nails”

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Then, there’s Nico Hoerner—the team’s every day second baseman who is now their every day shortstop after the oblique injury to Dansby Swanson.

Hoerner, a two-time Gold Glover at second, has moved over to shortstop and is playing the position like he wants a Gold Glove there as well.

The 29-year-old has already made an impact with his defense at his new spot, including an absolutely insane diving catch against the Brewers in Wednesday.

‘‘Does it surprise anybody?’’ Dansby Swanson said on Friday. ‘‘Of course, he’s going to make [the catch]. He’s so good at whatever he does, really. I’ve had zero doubts that this would be any different.’’

Hoerner’s excellence has the Cubs hardly missing the elite defensive wizardry of Swanson.

Not missing Dansby Swanson?

‘‘It doesn’t really feel like much is really different,’’ Crow-Armstrong told media on Thursday. ‘‘No shade to Dansby. Nico’s showing everybody that he can be a big-league shortstop at the everyday clip, as well. Nico’s been nails.’’

‘‘If there’s another guy in this league I want playing shortstop, it’s Nico Hoerner, so there’s not much to complain about with that,’’ first baseman Michael Busch told reporters late last month. ‘‘To be honest, I don’t think we’re missing much.’’

‘‘We’re pretty lucky, as a team, to have that as the backup option,’’ left fielder Ian Happ also said.

And offensively, Hoerner has also excelled of late, completely turning around a season that had seen him underachieve at the plate until about mid-June.

In the 63 games since June 24, he’s hit .298 with 4 home runs and 27 RBIs and has scored 21 runs. On the season, he’s bumped up his batting average from an uncharacteristically feeble .235 to his current .263.

Last season, Hoerner became a spark plug for the Cubs offense in the last part of the regular season and into the playoffs and it looks like things are trending in that direction for him again. If so, Chicago will be in a nice position to make some real noise in the postseason.

It’s also looking like he’s once again an unsung MVP of the Cubs roster, standing somewhat in the shadows of the flashier talents making all the headlines, but serving as a glue that keeps the whole team together.

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