Nico Hoerner showed off his baseball IQ against the Brewers
David Ross was quick to praise Nico Hoerner’s baseball IQ.
Hoerner was just as quick to applaud his teammates.
Trailing 1-0 in the top of the 8th inning with a runner on first and no outs, Avisaíl García hit a lazy popup to Hoerner in shallow right field. Javy Báez was quick to alert Hoerner that García was slow out of the box.
So, Hoerner let the ball drop, flipped it to first for the force out then caught Omar Narváez in a rundown to double them up.
“That was a total group effort,” Hoerner said. “That does not happen if he’s not yelling in my ear cause popups, especially on a day like today at Wrigley, your head is definitely on the ball not on the runner.
“Great communication and that was a big play for us for sure. That was fun.”
Ross thought it showed off his instincts, too.
“I think that’s just who he is. He’s such a smart baseball player,” Ross said. “I mean there’s just a sense of being a great baseball player and his IQ is extremely high. You love that type of stuff.”
It was a pivotal moment at the time as it kept the deficit at 1 and kept the Cubs in striking position. It also gave Ross some satisfaction.
“Having that communication between the middle infielders, that’s one of those that really makes you smile and I’ll hold onto that one,” Ross said.