Nico has batted .279 (401-for-1,435) with 64 doubles, 10 triples, 22 home runs and 169 RBI in 397 Major League games since making his debut for Chicago in 2019...Was the recipient of the 2023 N.L. Gold Glove Award for second base...March 30, 2023 signed a three-year contract extension covering the 2024-26 seasons...Made his Major League debut in 2019 at the age of 22, becoming the first member of the 2018 draft class to make his big league debut...Was selected by Chicago as the 24th pick in the 2018 draft...Became only the second Cubs position player in the last 30 years to make his Major League debut the year of or the year after he was drafted joining 2014 first-round pick Kyle Schwarber, who made his big league debut in 2015...Schwarber was also the previous Cub to jump from Double-A to the Majors as Hoerner did...In total, is the 23rd player in franchise history to make his Major League debut the year of or the year after he was drafted...Ranked as the Cubs’ top prospect entering 2020 according to MLB Pipeline and the second-best prospect by Baseball America (40th-best prospect across all of baseball)...Was named a 2018 Arizona Fall League Rising Star after batting .337 (30-for-89) with four doubles, four triples, one homer, 11 RBI and an .867 OPS in 21 games for the Mesa Solar Sox...Attended Stanford University...Named All-Pac-12 in 2017 and 2018...Was a finalist for Brooks Wallace Award in 2018 (best collegiate shortstop)...Selected to the ABCA All-America Second Team and ABCA All-West Region Team in 2018...Graduated from Stanford with a degree in American Studies during the 2019-20 offseason...Graduated from Head-Royce High School in Oakland, Calif., where he was a four-time all-league and two-time league MVP (2014, 2015).
2023
Nico won his first career N.L. Gold Glove Award at second base in 2023...It was the second time in his career that he was named a finalist (also 2020)...In his fifth season with the Cubs, batted .283 (175-for-619), 27 doubles, four triples, nine home runs and 68 RBI in 150 games...Was on the 10-day injured list May 12 (retroactive to May 9)-19 with a right ankle sprain and from Oct. 1 (retroactive to Sept. 30) to end of season with left knee contusion...Earned the MLBPAA Cubs Heart and Hustle Award...Was the first Cubs second baseman since Ryne Sandberg (54 SB, 186 H, 113 R, 83 RBI) in 1985 to reach 43 stolen bases, 175 hits, 98 runs and 68 RBI...His 43 stolen bases are the most by a Cub since Juan Pierre had 58 in 2006...Among qualified second basemen, ranked first in stolen bases (43), second in runs (98) and batting average (.283) and third in hits (175)...Paced the Cubs in runs, hits and stolen bases...Led the team with 51 multi-hit games...Played 135 games at second base this season with a .988 fielding percentage and 363 assists...Played 20 games at shortstop and had 48 assists...His 411 total assists led the MLB...Nico and Dansby Swanson started 134 games together this season, the most starts between Cubs double-play partners since Darwin Barney and Starlin Castro made 138 starts together in 2013...His 12.1% strikeout rate was eighth-lowest among Major League qualified hitters...Did not go more than two games without a hit all season...In the first month of the season, batted .328 (30-for-119) with five doubles, a triple, two home runs and 17 RBI...Went 42 straight plate appearances without a strikeout April 14-22...It was the longest-active streak at the time...From April 2-May 2, reached base safely in 26-straight games...That streak was the longest since Kris Bryant also reached in 26-straight games April 17-May 17, 2019...Hit .322 (39-for-121) with five doubles, two home runs and 17 RBI during the stretch...Had a career-high three four-RBI games this season (April 21, May 19 and July 19)...His previous four RBI game was Sept. 13, 2019 vs. Pittsburgh...Hit his first career leadoff home run May 30 against Tampa Bay...Played his 300th career game June 7 at Los Angeles (A.L.)...Hit his first career grand slam July 19 vs. Washington...Had a career-high 13-straight game hitting streak Sept. 5-19...Batted .370 (20- for-54) with one double and three RBI during the streak.
2022
Nico played in a career-high 135 games in 2022, batting .281(135-for-481) and setting career-marks in hits (135), doubles(22), triples (5), home runs (10), RBI (55), runs (60) and stolen bases (20)...Had amassed three home runs and 46 RBI in 112 career major league games prior to 2022... Was on the injured list from May 15-25 with a right ankle sprain after colliding with umpire Dan Iassogna in short-right field on May 11 at San Diego ... also missed time from Sept. 12-24 with right triceps tightness, but was not played on the injured list....Finished the season among the team leaders in average(1st), triples (1st), stolen bases (1st), hits (2nd), RBI (T-3rd),runs (4th) and doubles (T-4th) ... led the team with 14 three-plus hit games, tied for the lead in multi-RBI games (15) and his 33 multi-hit games were good for second-most....His five triples were tied for the fourth-most in the N.L., his.281 average ranked eighth among N.L. qualified batters and his 20 stolen bases were tied for ninth... His 20 stolen bases were the most by a Cub in a single season since Javier Báez (21 in 2018)....Became the fourth Cubs full-time shortstop to reach 10 homers and 20 stolen bases in a season (previous Starlin Castro in 2012)....Finished second among N.L. shortstops in defensive runs saved (11), per Fangraphs....Recorded a career-high, eight-game hitting streak from June22-30, batting .531 (17-for-32) with two doubles, a home run and seven RBI during the run....From June 23-28, tallied five-straight multi-hit efforts, becoming the first Cub to accomplish that feat since Jon Jay(Sept. 20-24, 2017)....Notched his 100th career RBI on Oct. 2 vs. Cincinnati.
2021
In 2021, batted .302 (45-for-149) with 10 doubles, 16 RBI and 17 walks in 44 games for Chicago ... had a .382 OBP... Had four stints on the injured list: May 4-14 (strained left forearm), May 26-July 4 (strained left hamstring), July 29- Sept. 19 (strained right oblique) and Oct. 1-4 (right oblique tightness)... Made 30 starts at second base, 12 at shortstop and one in left field... Was one of two Cubs with 150-plus plate appearances to finish with an average over .300 (also Frank Schwindel)... Hit .327 (34-for-104) with 12 RBI and an .800 OPS vs. righties... Recorded an RBI in a career-high four straight games April 29-May 2... Had a career-high seven-game hitting streak July 5-17, batting .346 (9-for-26) during the run... Optioned to Triple-A March 27 ... recalled April 22 and hit .338 (25-for-74) with a .405 OBP in his first 21 games through May 25.
2020
Nico spent the entire season on the major league roster, batting .222 (24-for-108) with four doubles, 13 RBI and 12 walks in 48 games...appeared in 37 games at second base, 10 games at shortstop, six games at third base and one game in both left field and center field... Made his most starts at second base (22)...also had starts at third base (six), shortstop (four) and center field (one)...Began the season with a five-game hitting streak, going 7-for-18 with a double and five RBI...had two RBI in consecutive games, July 28-29...His two RBI, July 28 in Cincinnati, gave him 20 RBI in his first 24 career games since making his major league debut, September 9, 2019...he’s just the fourth Cub to record 20 or more RBI within his first 24 career contests, joining: Mandy Brooks (32 RBI in 1925), Joe Kelly (21 RBI in 1926) and Jorge Soler (20 RBI in 2014)...Drove in a season-high three runs, September 10 vs. Cincinnati...went 2-for-4 with a double and run scored...Batted .355 (11-for-31) with runners in scoring position and .326 (14-for-43) in the seventh inning and later.
2019
Nico spent the majority of the minor league season with Double-A Tennessee before being selected by the Cubs, September 9...batted .282 (22-for-78) with one double, one triple, three homers and 17 RBI in 20 games with the Cubs...Made his major league debut, September 9 at San Diego, going 3-for-5 with a triple, two runs scored and four RBI in the Cubs’ 10-2 win...became the first Cub with at least three hits and four RBI in his major league debut since Dee Fondy on April 17, 1951...Had another four RBI game in his fifth-career contest, September 13 vs. Pittsburgh, including his first-career home run...became the first Cub since 1920 (when the RBI became an official stat) to record multiple four-RBI performances in his first five-career games...Notched 11 RBI in his first six-career games, the most by any Cub in his first six career major league games...surpassed Mandy Brooks, who had nine RBI in his first six career games in 1925...the 11 RBI tied for the most ever by any player in his first six games as a Cub, matching Bill Nicholson in 1939...Committed just two errors in 74 chances in his debut major league action...both errors came in the same game, September 24 at Pittsburgh...Batted .284 (76-for-268) with 16 doubles, three triples, three home runs and 22 RBI with Tennessee...was limited to 70 games due to a left wrist fracture (he was out from April 24-July 3)...posted a .344 on-base percentage and a .399 slugging percentage with Tennessee, good for a .743 OPS.
2018
Nico made his pro debut, appearing in 14 games between Rookie League Mesa, Single-A Eugene and Single-A South Bend...batted a combined .327 (16-for-49) with two doubles, two triples, two homers, six RBI and nine walks, good for a .450 OBP and 1.021 OPS...Went 2-for-3 with a double, triple, three runs, RBI and a walk in his pro debut, June 26 with the Mesa Cubs...promoted to Eugene, June 29, where he batted .318 (7-for-22) with a triple, homer and five walks in seven games...Appeared in four games with South Bend, going 6-for-15 (.400) with a double, homer and three RBI in four games...season was cut short after suffering a strained ligament in his left elbow, July 15.