Nico Hoerner spoke publicly for the first time since the team announced he had undergone right flexor tendon surgery last week. 

The Cubs second baseman joined Laurence Holmes and Matt Speigel on 670 The Score’s Spiegel and Holmes Show on Thursday afternoon. 

“I’m doing well,” Hoerner said when asked about the surgery. “If we had a game soon, not so much.”

Hoerner underwent surgery by Dr. Keith Meister on October 11. Meister has handled Tommy John surgeries for pitchers, including Cubs reliever Adbert Alzolay earlier this summer. 

It’s the first surgery Hoerner has undergone in his career. It’s an uncommon procedure for position players so his outlook for Spring Training, which starts in a little over 3 months in February, is murky. 

“I don’t know. We’re working on it,” Hoerner said on his recovery timeline. “I think projecting that far out is a bit challenging.”

[MORE: Cubs hiring a familiar face as new third base coach]

Despite the injury, which Hoerner said lingered for most of the year, the second baseman still hit .355 in 24 games in September. 

“Just don’t look at my throws,” Hoerner quipped. 

His arm strength took a dip in 2024. His average velocity on throws was 75.7 mph, in the bottom ninth percentile of all fielders, and down from 2023 (79.1 mph) and 2022 (85.3 mph).

That caused his defense metrics  as a whole to dip. He finished with 10 Outs Above Average at second, down from 13 in 2023. He was not named an NL Gold Glove finalist at second base after winning the award last season. 

If he’s on the shelf to start the year, it creates questions about who mans the position for the Cubs. Miles Mastrobuoni and Nick Madrigal are both on the 40-man roster and can play the role. But Mastrobuoni has primarily been a utility player and Madrigal played just 51 games last year after he suffered an injury when he was optioned to Triple-A Iowa. 

Michael Busch, a breakout rookie at first base has played second in the past, but moving him off first would create another hole, especially if Cody Bellinger opts out of the remaining 2 years on his 3-year deal. 

Top prospects Matt Shaw and James Triantos are both at Triple-A and can play the position, but neither are on the 40-man roster and have yet to play a full season at Iowa.