Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner has been hugely helpful in getting his team to the playoffs, but he’s now aiming for individual acclaim too.
Hoerner, who has set a career high with a 6.2 wins above replacement so far this season, has set his sights even higher, and is hoping to become one of only a handful of Cubs to finish atop the league in a key category.
Entering play Saturday against the Cincinnati Reds, where he’ll bat second and play second base, Hoerner has an even .300 batting average on the season, and he’s one of just two qualified hitters in the National League to be at or above that mark.
As a result, Hoerner trails only Philadelphia’s Trea Turner in the battle for the National League batting title, and he’s aiming to become the first Cubs player in 20 seasons to grab that honor.
The last Cubs player to win the batting title was Derrek Lee, as he slugged his way to a .335 average in his remarkable 2005 season for the Cubs.
While Hoerner has only hit six home runs and driven in 59 RBI’s, Lee’s season was much more productive from a power perspective, as he hammered 46 home runs and drove in 107 RBI’s that season.
Power aside, Hoerner is trying to become just the fifth Cubs player to win the National League batting title since the end of World War II. Bill Buckner finished atop the league in 1980, while Bill Madlock won a pair of batting titles in the 1970s. Billy Williams completes the group of Cubs to hit that milestone.
Hoerner has raised his batting average by 11 points so far this month, batting .371 with a home run and five RBI’s for the Cubs in 70 at-bats this month.
Currently Hoerner is going after a bit of a stationary target, as Turner hasn’t played since Sept. 7 after suffering an injury. There is hope that he could return to the team’s lineup before the end of the regular season, but it’s unknown whether he’ll return to the National League East champions before the conclusion of the campaign.
Hoerner and the Cubs will be in action at 5:40 p.m. Saturday.
from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/1sPY4Tq
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