Nico Hoerner stealing the show for Cubs

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Nico Hoerner grew up in Oakland rooting for the A’s, so he is more than familiar with the historic stolen base exploits of Rickey Henderson. This past weekend at Dodger Stadium, the Cubs second baseman laughed when asked if he was trying to run down some of Rickey’s records this season.

“No,” Hoerner said. “But it’s been fun.”

When the Cubs arrive in Oakland this week, Hoerner will take the field at the Coliseum as the National League’s leader in stolen bases (eight), and tied for the most in the Majors. According to Cubs historian Ed Hartig, Hoerner and Jimmy Slagle (1907) are the only players in Cubs history with at least eight in the first 14 games of a season.

There are multiple factors behind why Hoerner has been able to jump-start his season and Chicago’s lineup with an ultra-aggressive approach on the basepaths.

For starters, manager David Ross installed Hoerner as the Cubs’ new leadoff man, giving the infielder a chance to be active ahead of the likes of Dansby Swanson, Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki and Cody Bellinger. MLB also introduced new pickoff limits and increased the size of the bases, enticing teams to steal more bags in 2023.

Beyond that, Hoerner is now a lot more experienced and confident.

“Last year, I felt like in the second half in particular,” Hoerner said, “I started to hit my stride a little bit, as far as just comfort and confidence stealing bases. It's a lot more mental than people realize, with just kind of trusting where you're at as well as trusting the system that you're a part of.”

Hoerner said first-base coach Mike Napoli and Ross have been great sources of information about opposing catchers, pitchers and situations. Dating back to his playing days, Napoli has grown a reputation for being able to pick up on tendencies of opposing pitchers and catchers. Ross also has his long history of catching to lean on -- not to mention the intel from the Cubs’ scouting and analytics groups.

“I think he’s continued to grow his baseball IQ in the stolen base area,” Ross said. “And three years ago, he wasn't the basestealer he is now. That's just a product of him working, learning and continuing to trust all the information that he has.”

Hoerner noted that he was not much of a base thief during his collegiate days at Stanford. In fact, he only stole three bases in his first two seasons combined before racking up 15 as a junior. In his brief time in the Minors, steals were not a major part of Hoerner’s game, either. He had 14 in 98 games on the farm.

“Minor Leagues, did some, but wasn't very aggressive,” Hoerner said. “And you get to the big leagues, and it's not really a place where you have a lot of room for experimenting sometimes.”

Last season, Hoerner started to pick up the pace, stealing 20 bases overall, including 11 in 58 games after the All-Star break.

The on-pace statistics can be entertaining this early in a season with such small samples to examine. That said, it is fun to note that Hoerner -- at his current rate -- is on pace for more than 90 stolen bases. Tony Campana was the last Cubs player to steal 30 when he hit that number on the nose in 2012. Next on that list is Juan Pierre, who had 58 in 2006.

Happ laughed when asked if Hoerner could top 80 thefts by the end of the year.

“Is he on pace? _Yes_,” Happ said with a smirk. “He's smart. He does his homework and he knows when he can take the bags and what he's looking for. He's really, really good at it. Hitting behind him, for him to be on second base all the time, it's very nice for me.”

Happ was also a part of a double-steal with Hoerner during the recent series against the Dodgers.

“I'll take all those,” Happ said. “Any time he wants to steal third, I'll just walk in behind him.”